


The Disciple

by DeliciousGears



Category: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Martial Arts, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 01:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15108950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeliciousGears/pseuds/DeliciousGears
Summary: Ranma is the kind of person who is always in search of new challenges to take on and conquer. And when Akane and the Tendou School take on an eager new student of martial arts, he suspects that this might be his biggest challenge yet. But with new threats and rivals on the horizon, it's a challenge from which he can't afford to back down.





	1. The Right Man For The Job

Ranma looked down at the blank sheet of paper, tapping his pen absently. It was still the middle of the last class of the day, and he was supposed to be taking notes, but he would be damned if he could ever consider writing down anything the teacher was saying at the moment.

It had been a few hours since Soun had given him and Akane a talk over breakfast, about their futures together as he put it. It was a long time coming, and everyone had been expecting it since the incident at Mt. Phoenix. It was time, Soun had told him, that he should start thinking seriously about his future as the head of the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

This was all well and good, except that Ranma didn't really have a good idea about what his future as the head of the Saotome school actually meant. He knew that he wanted to marry Akane, at the very least. But then what?

Akane was trying to study harder than ever, hoping to get into a university. He didn't even know that she wanted to go to university. He didn't even think that martial arts and higher education mixed.

And he... Well...

He was still thinking about what was happening this week. Still looking out the corner of his eye for somebody to challenge him. Ryouga hadn't been around recently, probably off helping with the Unryuu pig farm. Kuno was hardly a challenge. He hadn't seen or heard any trace of Ryuu Kumon since their fateful match.

Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne were off somewhere, maybe back in China for a spell. Ukyou and Konatsu were too busy trying to run their restaurant. Hell, the Principal was hanging out somewhere out of the way.

Everything was quiet.

And Ranma was getting restless.

Ranma was still staring at the blank piece of paper. The blank, empty piece of paper.

"Ranma."

The blank, empty piece of paper that seemed to be taunting him with its emptiness.

"Ranma!"

The blank...

" _Ranma!_ "

Ranma jerked upwards as Akane's frowning face suddenly loomed into his view. "Hey! Don't just shove your face into mine like that!"

Akane scowled at him. "I was trying to get your attention for the past several minutes! What's been making you space out all day?"

Ranma motioned towards the blank piece of paper. "Taking notes? You know, the thing you've been doing all this time I've seen you?"

Akane quirked an eyebrow, her gaze passing over the blank, empty piece of paper. "You don't seem to have gotten the hang of it, I see."

Ranma's cheeks flushed. "There's more to taking notes than just writing stuff down on paper!" He grabbed the blank sheet of paper, scrunching it up into a ball and tossing it into the wastebasket ten feet away.

Akane wasn't impressed. "Is this about what Dad said this morning?"

Ranma blinked. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Only that you've been acting funny ever since he gave you that lecture on the future of our schools..." Akane's features softened a little. "Have you... Have you been thinking about it?"

Ranma desperately wanted to just say "I haven't been thinking anything," or at least something vaguely insulting to make her mad or something, but he knew that wouldn't put the problem off for long.

"I don't know what... It's..." Ranma struggled to find a thought. "So, like, I'm gonna marry you, and that'll unite the schools, right? And I'm going to inherit and become head, one day." He paused for a second. "I guess...?"

The question hung in the air for what felt like an eternity.

"You don't know what you're going to do after we marry?" Akane asked. "After we graduate from high school?"

Ranma just sighed. "Look, I don't know. Alright? I just don't know. I've been spending a good chunk of my life up to now just trying to stay alive and not get killed. So forgive me if I don't really have any long-term plans for the future, alright?"

Akane sighed back in frustration. " At least try and do something to get out of your rut or something. Maybe join a after-school club?"

Ranma looked at Akane for a moment.

Akane blinked. "What? You can't just hang around Hiroshi and Daisuke, or go bum food off Ukyou-san and Shampoo all day. You need to do something with your life!"

Ranma was silent, still looking at Akane. As the seconds passed, her cheeks started to heat up from the scrutiny that he gave her. After a while, he pushed his chair back and rose from his seat.

"You know what? You're right."

Akane blinked for a moment. "I am?"

Ranma nodded. "I should do something with my life. So I'm going to go and find myself a club to join here in the school." A flash of determination crossed his eyes. "And I'm going to be the best at it."

And with that, Ranma sprinted out of the classroom, Akane staring after him in surprise.

* * *

  
After some searching, Akane found Ranma roaming the hallways of Furinkan High, a sheet of paper held tightly in his hand. She had to reach out with her hand and grab Ranma by the waistband of his pants as he tried to move past her.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked.

Ranma turned around to peer at Akane. "I'm looking for a club to join, duh." He held up the piece of paper, which had a list of Furinkan High's club written on it. "I've been looking in and asking around, see if anybody would take me."

Akane looked down the hallway that Ranma just came from. "Those are the martial arts and sports clubs down there, right?"

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, but I figured that any place where Kuno might be won't be a fun one."

Akane sighed with grudging acceptance. "Well, you can try the Karate Club, I suppose. You'd probably get in easily..." She turned and walked off down the hall. "Come on! I'll take you there!"

It didn't take long for Akane and Ranma to reach the gymnasium where the Karate Club met and practiced: it was a small building, with a curved roof, that sat just a few yards from the back of the school, next to the athletics track.

Akane and Ranma approached the door, Ranma peering through the frosted glass windows. Loud shouts and grunts came from inside, muffled slightly by the closed door.

Akane turned back to look at Ranma. "Remember to be polite," she whispered, before she pushed open the door to the gym and the voices came through louder, accompanied by the smell of stale sweat.

The two quietly stepped inside, leaving their shoes at the inside of the entrance. The inside of the gym reminded Ranma of being inside the dojo at home, except that instead of the traditional varnished wood floor and paper walls, there were more modern stucco walls and a wood floor covered with soft white mats. The very center of the room had the largest mat, marked with a red octagon in its centre. In the corner were some heavy looking dumbbells and a barbell, while another corner had some large punchbags that looked like they had some serious use put in them. Around the room were several youths of various sizes, all dressed in the same familiar white gi, sparring and working the bags, working up a healthy seat.

Ranma looked at the various students sparring: he was pretty sure that he could remember seeing one or two of them in the big morning brawls when he first went to school with Akane, before he beat Kuno up and got them to back off. From the look on Akane's face as she looked at them, he could guess that she recognized a couple of them too.

One of the members sparring, a large looking guy with a super-short crew cut, quickly noticed them. He paused for a moment, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, before a disturbingly huge grin spread across his face, and he all but dashed towards Ranma and Akane.

"Akane-san!" The large youth said. "It's nice to see you here in our little gym!" He stepped closer to Akane, and Ranma had to fight the urge to step in front of her. "What's the occasion today?"

Akane was thankfully undaunted by the big senior's unsettling closeness, and stood her ground. "Munekata-senpai, I was wondering if your club could take in a new member?" She looked aside towards Ranma, and Munekata followed his gaze.

Ranma looked up at Munekata hopefully. The senior had a good six more inches on him, and probably looked like he was twice that in girth. To somebody who would be a neophyte in martial arts, the guy would be a frightening person to deal with.

To Ranma, he just looked like a walking target.

The grin on Munekata's face grew bigger. "Saotome? Seriously? Since when did he want to learn Karate?"

"I'm not looking to learn anything," Ranma said. "I'm here to enrich my school life." He looked aside to Akane for a moment, then looked back. "Or something like that."

Munekata's smile barely changed. "Well, that's all well and good. But you know, we got ourselves a policy here at the Furinkan High Karate Club." His arm rose in a flash, fist tightly clenched in front of Ranma's face. "When a newbie joins, all the students get first crack at him." His grin grew even bigger. "The beginners first. Then the seniors last."

Akane blinked for a second. "You have seen what Ranma’s done since he came here, right? You know what he’s done to Kuno, and the Golden Pair?" She looked over at Ranma, who seemed to be tuning out of the conversation. “I’m sure that you’ve seen him fight. He’s more than just a newbie!”

Munekata sneered at Akane. "What are you saying? You think me and my boys haven’t been training to beat this boy’s ass since he came here?" He leaned in towards Akane, and Ranma took a step forward. "It's gonna be real fun crushing your little boyfriend here."

Akane just narrowed her eyes up at Munekata. "Munekata-senpai, could you please not get so close? You smell all sweaty."

Munekata stared at Akane for several seconds, before he whipped his head back towards the room. "Listen up, you turds! We got ourselves a special guest here today!” The condescending tone on the words “special guest” were unmistakable. “I wanna see all of you give him a nice warm welcome!"

Almost all of the students turned towards the entrance, and towards Ranma. Almost all of them, it seemed, except for one skinny youth with short black hair turned away from the others. It took Ranma a moment, but he noticed that he seemed to be more busy washing one of the windows of the gym. He definitely looked out of place among the other members of the Karate Club, as he was still wearing his school uniform instead of the training gi the other members wore.

"What about the guy by the window?" Ranma asked. "Ain't he a member of your little club?"

Munekata snickered. "The pipsqueak? Why worry about him? He's here so he can wipe your blood off the mats."

Ranma just snorted. "Who's saying that it's gonna be my blood on the mats?"

Munekata's smile, for once, actually slipped. "I am, you little punk! Unless you pay your senpai his proper respect! Now get your ass over here so we can greet you properly!"

Ranma gave Akane a quick glance before her stepped onto the mat, unbuttoning his shirt as he did so. He hung the shirt on one of the punching bags, before stepping inside the octagon.

Slowly, the rest of the karate club spread out around the octagon, each of them giving Ranma a cold stare. Some of them looked like they were looking forward to stepping in the octagon with him. Others seemed a bit more nervous, obviously not feeling up to facing Ranma down. Munekata looked like he was in total glee. Even the boy who was washing the window had turned to look at Ranma. The look in his eye, the one not covered with his floppy lopsided fringe, didn't betray any feelings at all.

Ranma just smiled. It looked like he might have a good workout on his hands after all.

Munekata looked over towards one of the younger, greener looking boys. "You're up first, Sato."

Sato stepped into the octagon. He gave Ranma a grin, before he raised his fists and charged forward.

A second later, Sato was reeling back out of the octagon, tumbling off the mat to slam into the back wall. A terrible silence descended on the gym.

Ranma stood on one leg, the other still extended from the kick that sent Sato out of the octagon. He lowered the leg slowly. "Maybe we should skip the beginners? I don’t want to hurt anyone too much..."

Munekata's eyes darted back and forth among the other youths, some of them already shrinking back from Ranma. "Don't just stand there and gawk, losers!" He stabbed a finger at Ranma. "Get him!"  
  
Another fighter charged into the octagon, and Ranma spun himself around, rolling past his speeding fist, to whip his forearm into the back of the head. That guy kept running, straight out the other side, off the mat, and into the wall face-first. He slowly slid down the wall as two more of his would be opponents leaped in.

Ranma danced through the flying fists and feet, his body moving like a swirling breeze, buffeting back anyone who tried to stand in his path. He kicked aside one, smacked back another with his palm, tripped over another charging towards him.

Despite the dwindling of the club members, it seemed that their enthusiasm wasn't flagging: it was all the boys could do to not rush Ranma en masse.

Ranma twirled past another punch, sending the puncher running smack into a sandbag, and assumed a ready stance, one leg up. "Is that the best you've got already? Or are you just saving that for last?"

Five boys charged Ranma after he said that. But he simply leaped upwards, driving his feet into the back of the head of one boy and sending him to the mat. He landed, only swerving to dodge the chain another boy swung.

Ranma briefly wondered where the boys managed to get themselves some weapons, before dashing past the second swing and punching the boy in the stomach and leaving him crumpled on the mat. "Okay, that's just not sporting. I thought you guys were professionals!"

Ranma turned his head to look at Akane again. But instead, he caught the eye of the boy who was hanging back, the boy Munekata called "pipsqueak". The curious look that the boy was giving him before the session started was gone, replaced with a much more intense gaze. For a moment, Ranma remembered the eyes of Ryouga when he was getting serious during a fight, or Herb when he was mad. The boy had eyes just like that.

The sound of pounding feet snapped Ranma out of his reverie, and he moved again, barely dodging Munekata's fist as it barrelled towards him. Ranma turned to face his senior, smirking. "So you've finally decided to have your shot at me?"

Ranma looked around the gym. Many of the club members were on the floor, groaning in pain, or propping themselves against the far wall trying to stand up again. Some other boys were pinned against the wall, cringing in fear; probably the younger members, Ranma guessed, who had the fight taken out of them at the sight of Ranma taking down so many of their fellow friends.

Munekata was the last man on the mat. Looks like it was time to wrap things up.

"You got a lot of nerve comi--," Munekata said, before Ranma's foot slammed into his gut. After Ranma brought his foot back and then whipped into his face, all the sounds he made were strangled cries of pain.

Munekata fell backwards onto the floor like a domino. Just like a domino, he didn't get up again.

Ranma turned to look at Akane again, smiling. "So does this mean that I'm a member now?"

Akane just groaned and turned away. "Jerk." And then she blinked as she noticed the boy, the "pipsqueak", still staring at Ranma. "What are you looking at?"

The boy's intense gaze shifted from Ranma to Akane. "I'm looking at you," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Akane's cheeks turned red. "No, I mean... Why are you..." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "What are you still doing here? Aren't you supposed to be a member?"

"I guess so," The boy said, in the same tone. "I did some training here and there in the martial arts clubs in middle school. So when I came here, I thought I could keep on training with the Karate Club.” His face turned sour as he nudged the bucket with his foot. ”But the captain said I needed to learn discipline or something."

"Yeah?" Ranma asked. "So is that all you do here? Just... washing windows?"

The boy shrugged. "And the floor, and the mats. And getting drinks for the seniors, and the captain. And carrying all their bags. And--"

"Okay, okay," Ranma said, "I think I get it."

Akane just sighed. "Great. I guess I should've known that the Karate Club are just as much jerks as the Kendo team."

"Not as smart as the Kendo team, though." Ranma replied.

Slowly, the club members that were still able to walk slunk out of the gym, trying not to get any more attention brought on themselves from Ranma and Akane. They grabbed the still unconscious bodies of the other students, and dragged them out with them. In the space of a few short minutes, the gym was completely empty with the exception of Ranma, Akane, and the strange new boy.

Akane looked around the empty gym for a moment, before looking at the boy again. "So… Um... What's your name?"

"Ichimonji Hayate. First year student, Class C."

Ranma stretched out, still standing proud in the center of the mat. "Yeah, nice to meet you. Are you going to have your turn with me, or are you just gonna run out like the others?"

Akane jerked, before turning around to face Ranma. "You've already done enough as is! You've probably wrecked the Karate Club single-handed!" She gave Ranma her best hard stare. "Don't think you can just come in and push everyone around just because--"

"Hey."

Akane stopped.

Ranma looked up.

"I want to have my turn," Hayate said, before stepping onto the mat.

Akane stared at Hayate for a moment, before slumping her shoulders. "Just be careful, alright? And for pity's sake, Ranma, go easy on him!"

Ranma just grinned as Hayate raised his arms, assuming a stance. "Haven't I been going easy this whole time?" He turned back to look at his opponent, only to pause.

That intense look in Hayate's eyes was back again. And it was focused squarely at him. Ranma felt a sense of unease just looking at the boy's eyes. Was it just naturally like that?

In a flash, Hayate sprang forward, fist raised. He swung hard, his fist careening towards Ranma's jaw. But Ranma simply twisted out the way, foot arcing upwards into the empty space where Hayate's head had been.

Wait.

Hayate's shoulder slammed into Ranma's chest, taking him nearly off his feet. It was an impressive counter: maybe a bit lower or a bit harder and Hayate could've knocked the wind out of him. Instead, Ranma grabbed Hayate's head in a front facelock and twisted, spinning them both around and letting Ranma out of Hayate's grasp, before Ranma swung his body around and under Hayate’s.

Ranma skidded along the mat on his knees, before hopping up to his feet once more. Hayate stumbled slightly, but managed to turn himself around. The two youths stood on the mat again, Hayate moving back into his basic stance.

Ranma smiled. The boy was definitely learning through watching his moves with the others. Now things were getting interesting.

Hayate sprang forward again, his fists blazing towards Ranma, who danced between his blows. Ranma was almost reminded of sparring with Akane again as he moved, the boy's ferocious punches moving with him.

Hayate kept barrelling forward, trying to hit Ranma, trying to keep up the pressure so Ranma could slip up, or trying to overwhelm him. But Ranma was still playing cool.

"At least you're showing some improvisation," Ranma said. "You're pretty smart for a newbie!"

"Yeah?" Hayate replied. "Well, how about this?!"

Suddenly, Hayate leaped upwards towards Ranma, his foot extending into a downward kick aimed straight for his face. It was child's play for Ranma to step backward enough so Hayate's kick flew right past him.

What Ranma didn't expect was Hayate landing on the extending foot and bracing it down, knee bending, and suddenly springing on that foot forwards to send his other knee right into Ranma's face.

Ranma reeled backwards from the blow, still managing to stay standing despite the stars dancing in his eyes. He could hear Akane gasp in shock as he tried to regain his sense, before Hayate could take advantage and press the attack.

Playtime was definitely over.

As Ranma's eyes focused, he could see Hayate sprinting forward to deliver another blow. On instinct, he reared back, knee bent, and lashed out with a lightning fast thrust kick to the face.

He felt his foot impact with something solid, and heard the thump of a body on the mat a moment later. When he looked again, his vision clear, Hayate was sprawled out on the mat unconscious.

* * *

 

Akane carried Hayate down to the nurse's station on her back as Ranma cleaned up afterwards. Thankfully, he didn't wake up again until a few minutes after he was placed on a bed, and Akane had sat beside him.

Hayate winced as he rose to a sitting position, his vision wavering slightly. "Where am I? How long was I out?"

"Probably a couple of hours." Akane said. "I have to hand it to you, you're probably the only person in the Karate Club to even _touch_ Ranma, let alone hit him twice. At least they'll be more serious about letting you train, at least after you recover from a hit like that."

Hayate just sighed. "Yeah, if they even come back. Munekata-senpai was going on a lot about how he could beat Ranma because he was trained in a serious martial art instead of magical woo bullshit."

Akane crossed her arms and huffed. "I hope you're quoting Munekata-senpai verbatim there." Her expression softened after a moment. "I guess if you give them a few lessons in martial arts, some people just think they can take on the world. It's like Kuno all over again..."

Hayate shifted a little on the bed, turning towards Akane. "So all the stories I keep hearing about the guy are true?"

Akane nodded quietly. "Everything except for the one about being bitten by a king cobra." She smiled a little bit. "Apparently Nabiki spread that one because she thought it would be funny."

Hayate stared at the ceiling. "Great. Turns out that I got played like a _chump_ , along with everyone else at the Karate Club."

"You managed to make his nose bleed, at least." Akane smiled a little at the memory of Ranma trying to pass off the blood as Hayate's own.

"And then he damn near kicked my _head_ off," Hayate replied. "It's a wonder that I'm still alive after facing him."

"And you have the black eye to prove it." Akane said. "Too bad the Karate Club fled before they could give you a chance." She mulled it over for a moment, before an idea popped into her head. "Maybe you could train with us! We could train you!"

Hayate gave Akane a skeptical look.

"You're still a beginner, but you've got some talent." Akane began to smile. "You have the will to learn, but you haven't found yourself a decent teacher yet. And Dad had been talking about us being more serious about our school..."

"You mean like I become Ranma's student?" Hayate still had the skeptical look on his face.

“Well, not _Ranma’s_ student,” Akane replied. “You’ll be _mine_.”

* * *

  
"You're _seriously_ going to train that kid?" Ranma asked, as he pulled his outdoor shoes on. "I thought you had things more important to do than martial arts!" His serious tone was somewhat less imposing, due to the large cotton swabs stuffed up his nose to soak up blood.

Akane scowled at Ranma. "Just because I'm studying for university doesn't mean that I'm leaving martial arts behind." She motioned towards Hayate standing behind her, his skeptical look still on his face. "Dad said that we needed to think more seriously about the schools we'll inherit. We're going to not just be fighters anymore, but teachers too!"

Ranma looked between the two, his expression unreadable for a moment. "Are you really serious about this? I mean, once we get married, it's not like you're going to be still doing the martial arts thing..."

Akane's expression hardened. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

Ranma's brows furrowed and he looked away. "I mean, you're not exactly going to need to do anything more than take care of the house and..." He paused mid-sentence, as if he just remembered exactly how Akane might take a sentiment like that.

Akane, to her credit, didn't react as badly as he anticipated. But her face was dark and stormy, and still had a promise of a lot of pain. "And I suppose you know all about what I want to do with my life, don't you?"

Ranma still looked away. "I was just thinking about how Mom is like." He said, trying to muster in his voice what indignance he could.

Akane stepped forward a couple of steps, and Ranma tried not to back up with every step. "Well, you should know that I'm not your mother, Ranma. And I'm not going to choose the life she is living." She walked a couple more steps past Ranma, towards the school doorway.

After a moment, she turned her head back. "Hayate-kun, aren't you coming home with me?"

Ranma blinked as Hayate stepped quietly past him. "Where's he going?" He turned around to face Akane and Hayate. "What are you doing?"

Akane looked at Ranma. "I'm going to take him back to the dojo, aren't I? He wants to learn martial arts, so where better than our dojo?" She looked over at Hayate. "Come on, we're leaving."

Ranma watched the two walk off towards the school gate, barely illuminated in the fading sunlight. He sighed, and started running after them, but being careful to keep his distance.

Akane and Hayate were quiet most of the way home, while Ranma followed, walking along the canal-side fence. It took a while before somebody broke the silence.

"So I'm guessing that you have some trouble getting along at home," Hayate said quietly.

Akane just sighed. "I suppose so. But he has been staying with my family for some time. Maybe a year or two? I couldn't really tell. Even though he can be a real jerk, we've never really kicked him out."

"No matter how hard he tries?" Hayate asked, looking at Ranma out the corner of his eye.

Akane shook her head. "I suppose so."

Hayate sighed and pulled his bag further up on his back, looking along the street corners. "Never been 'round this part of Nerima before. My house is five miles in the other direction from the school." He peered around a street corner, noticing the light of Dr. Tofu's surgery down the street.

"Hey, could we save the tour for later?" Ranma said irritably. "I want to get home before dark." He took off along the fence at a dead sprint, zooming down towards home.

Akane gave Ranma a hard stare as he passed by her, before quickening her pace, Hayate following.

* * *

  
It wasn't long before Akane and Hayate managed to get home, stepping through the gate and heading for the front door. Akane waved towards Soun and Genma as they played Shogi in the living room, before heading through the front door.

"I'm home!"

Kasumi turned as Akane stepped out of her shoes, and Hayate stepped inside. "Akane! Welcome home!" Her gaze turned towards Hayate. "Oh, and you've brought a guest?"

Akane nodded. "He's here to learn martial arts and train with us. He used to be part of our Karate Club at school, but Ranma tried to join today and, well..."

"First year student, Ichimonji Hayate." Hayate bowed low towards Kasumi. "Nice to meet you."

Kasumi bowed in return, smiling brightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Hayate-kun. You're welcome to stay here for dinner if Akane doesn't mind."

Akane moved down the hall past Kasumi. "I don't mind, Sis. Hayate is welcome here tonight. I'm going to get changed, then we're going for a spar in the dojo."

Hayate watched Akane leave down the hall before turning back to Kasumi. "She's surprisingly nice. The guys at school all talk about her like she's really dangerous."

"What do you mean, surprisingly nice?" Ranma suddenly blurted out from behind Hayate, making the boy jump. "She's only nice to you because you're sucking up to her so much!"

Hayate stared at Ranma for a moment in silence, partly from Ranma's surprising him from behind, and partly from the words Ranma spoke to him.

"Let me tell you something, kid," Ranma continued. "You think she's all nicey-nice right now, but I guarantee that if you put _one_ step wrong with her, she'll lay you out _flat_!” He prodded Hayate’s chest to punctuate his words. “Just remember that."

Kasumi frowned slightly at Ranma (which, for Kasumi, was a stinging condemnation). "But if you weren't so harsh to Akane all of the time, Ranma-kun, then she wouldn't lash out at you so much..."

Ranma gave Kasumi a slightly hard stare, tempered slightly by Kasumi's motherly aura still being in full force. Then he stalked past Hayate, dumping his shoes on the inside entrance and went into the living room.

Hayate snorted. "Never thought that the great Saotome Ranma was a whiner..."

Ranma poked his head back in the hall, a significantly frostier glare aimed at Hayate. "Wanna make something of it, _punk_?"

"Ranma-kun, don't be so cold." Kasumi said quickly. "Hayate-kun, Akane's probably waiting for you at the dojo by now. You should go and see her."

Hayate just grunted a "yes," pulled his sneakers off and set them together properly against the edge of the inside entrance. Then he stalked down the halls, towards the dojo, ignoring Ranma's glare as he did so.

* * *

  
Akane, true to Kasumi's word, was waiting inside the dojo, dressed in her white gi. As Hayate stepped inside, she bowed towards him. Nervously, Hayate returned the bow.

"Welcome to the Tendou Dojo," she said, standing proudly in the middle of the room. "This is the dojo my Dad built for me and Ranma to inherit, as the heirs to the combined schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Anything Goes..." Hayate asked, looking around the hall. "Is that like MMA?"

"I suppose so," Akane said. "Though it's more for use in general circumstances than in sports. My dad taught me martial arts with the intent to be effective with any style and with any weapon that came close to hand. And Ranma, he was taught to be able to adapt to any situation as they happened."

Hayate blinked. "Isn't that kind of the same thing?"

Akane nodded. "I'd think so, though I think Ranma might disagree." She stretched out, and started preparing herself. "You want to start off with some sparring, I suppose?"

Hayate nodded. "Please excuse me still wearing my uniform. The Karate Club wouldn't supply me with a gi or anything." He shucked off his jacket, tossing it to the side. Then he started to mimic Akane's stretching routine. "So I'm pretty much stuck with this for the moment."

Akane just nodded. "Well, you wouldn't be required to wear a proper gi, just wear something comfortable for exercise." She assumed a fighting stance. "Now, Hayate-kun, show me your moves!"

Hayate rose back to his feet, a jagged grin spreading across his face. "Bring it!"

When Ranma went over to the dojo a few minutes later, the battle was in full swing: Hayate was swinging fists ferociously at Akane, only to bounce harmlessly off her solid guard or sail clean past her. Ranma felt the urge to step in and stop Hayate, but the look in Akane's eyes stopped him; she didn't even look like she was tired, even though she was drenched in sweat.

Then Hayate stumbled on his feet and collapsed to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. His head hung low, out of Ranma and Akane's sight.

Akane leaned forward a little. "Are you alright, Hayate-kun? You need a rest?"

Hayate rose, trying to get to his feet. But his knees trembled and gave out from under him, sending him to the floor again.

"Okay," Ranma said quickly, "I think that's enough sparring for the night." He walked over to Hayate and crouched over him, head cocked to one side. "No use blowing yourself out on your first night."

Hayate turned his head to look at Ranma. "I thought I had her. Hell, I managed to hit you a couple of times..."

"No, I was just prepared for you." Akane folded her arms. "You've got energy, but you obviously don't have the technique or the strength. Ranma wasn't taking you seriously, so he went easy on you, and you managed to get some lucky hits in."

Ranma scowled at Akane. "Yeesh, try and give me a little more credit, would you? I knocked him out, didn't I?"

Akane's expression didn't change. "And I had to make sure that he didn't have a concussion, thanks to _you_!" She turned on her heel and walked out of the dojo. "I'm going for a bath. You make sure Hayate recovers and clean up!"

Ranma sighed, looking towards Hayate again. "You see that? She gets one little bit of responsibility, and suddenly she's the queen of the block!" He rose to his feet again, pulling Hayate up with him. "When you get your breath back, dinner's probably gonna be ready. If you want some, you'd better get back to the living room before Pops eats it all."

Hayate looked up at Ranma, the same intense look in his eyes. "Did you want me here, then? Or are you just trying to make your fiancée happy?"

Ranma didn't say anything. He just turned on his heel and left.

Hayate just sighed, and staggered his way out of the dojo, in search for a place to wash off all the sweat.

* * *

 

By the time Hayate returned to the living room, Kasumi was setting out places for dinner. She noticed Hayate and gave him a reassuring smile. "How was sparring with Akane-chan, Hayate-kun? I hope you didn't hit her too hard."

"Fine," Hayate mumbled as he sat at the table. "It was fine. She was fine."

Nabiki stepped through the doorway. "Are you telling the truth, or don't you just want to admit that you got beaten by a girl?" She grinned slightly, even as Hayate gave her a withering glare. "I'm Akane's other older sister, Nabiki. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah," Hayate said, glare still in place. " _Charmed_."

Kasumi started setting out the plates for dinner. "You should be more polite, Hayate-kun. Nabiki was just admitted into Taian University. Akane-chan hopes to be there in a couple of years."

Hayate's glare faded slightly, mostly at the sight of the food that Kasumi had laid out. "Yeah? And Ranma?"

"You'll have to ask him that," Kasumi replied. "I haven't heard him say anything about what he wants to do after high school ends. Maybe he'll try and join Akane in university...?"

"Yeah, right." Ranma stood in the doorway, glaring at Hayate across the table. "Like I'd want to follow her anywhere..."

Nabiki smirked a little bit. "On the bright side, considering what I've heard of your grades, I don't see there's any chance of you following her there... Maybe if you're good and study extra hard..."

Ranma gave Nabiki a cold glare, before sitting down at the table. "Yeah, laugh it up. At least there's going to be less of you around the house to deal with."

Soun and Genma turned away from their game of Shogi to sit at the table as well. "Ranma," Genma said, "You have to remember that Nabiki doesn't have the responsibilities that you have, or the necessary will to keep them. She can do as she pleases."

Nabiki just smiled at Genma. "And you would know all about keeping responsibilities, don't you, Uncle Saotome?"

Genma didn't respond, but everyone could tell that Nabiki hit the mark. Instead, he just took the offered rice bowl from Kasumi and started eating.

After a moment, Akane returned from the bath, wearing pink pajamas and a cardigan. "I hope I didn't miss too much." She sat next to Hayate. "Did you manage to clean yourself up at least?"

"I used the faucet round back," Hayate said simply. "It helped a little, I guess."

"Ah, so that's why you looked so damp!" Soun laughed.

As Soun laughed, Hayate noticed Ranma glaring at him. He glared back, putting the full weight of his stare behind him.

Soun's laughter slowly died out as the two glared daggers at one another, both rock-still and silent. Even when Genma stole some food from his son's plate, Ranma didn't turn his eyes away from Hayate from a second.

A long moment of silence passed through the living room. And then Akane slammed her hand down on the table, the loud bang shaking the food. "Hayate-kun! Ranma! Stop staring at each other like that!" She paused as she realized that, along with Ranma and Hayate, everyone else turned to look at her as well. She flushed deeply, down to the roots. "We're supposed to be having dinner, okay? At least try to be civil with each other."

Ranma rolled his eyes. Hayate just nodded. And soon, everyone returned to their food.

After dinner, Hayate quickly made his excuses and left. He was lacing his sneakers at the inside entrance when Akane came up to him.

"Hayate-kun, I have to tell you something."

Hayate paused as he tightened the bow on his shoelace. Then, slowly, he turned his head around towards Akane.

"If you're still serious about learning martial arts, this house will always be open to you. And I also expect you to be in the Karate Club at school again tomorrow afternoon." Her eyes took on a glint of determination. "Martial arts isn't something that you just do for funsies, you know."

Hayate nodded. "I'll be there tomorrow."

Akane just smiled. "I'll see you there."

Akane watched Hayate as he stepped out the door and down the pathway to the gate. As he disappeared behind it, she turned around to see Ranma standing by the door-frame to the living room.

"You know," Ranma said irritably. "When Tendou-san said that we should start thinking about our futures as heir to the schools, I didn't think that you would decide to do something like this."

Akane blinked for a moment. "Why shouldn't I? I'm going to be the heir to the Tendou Dojo and the Tendou School. Why shouldn't I have somebody as my disciple now?"

Ranma glared. "Why? Well, you're not a master of martial arts, for one thing! You're not as good as some other people I can care to mention... And that guy just looks like a suspicious character to me!"

Akane blinked for a second. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Ranma spluttered. "W-what?!"

Akane started to grin widely. "You are! You totally are! You're jealous that I've got a student of martial arts! And I got one before you did!"

Ranma's face started to burn. "I am not jealous!"

"Yes you are!" Akane pointed at Ranma. "You're supposed to be the better martial artist, but I know Hayate doesn't like you at all! You have no idea what it takes to be a teacher of martial arts!" She grinned widely, arms akimbo. "But I know, don't I?"

Ranma crossed his arms, scowling. "Feh! All you know is how to waste your breath. You talk a big game about landing yourself a student, but everyone knows you’re on the bottom rung of all the people here who call themselves martial artists!"

Akane's smile faded as Ranma turned away from her, now in full-on "I-have-to-explain-everything-to-my-dense-macho-fiancee" mode.

"All I can remember you being good for is getting in trouble and having to be bailed out by me! What kind of student is gonna respect someone like that? I can’t just let you get yourself into trouble just because you think you can be a better teacher than me!”

Ranma folded his arms, a scowl on his face. “You're my fiancée, so why don’t you act like it, and stop getting ideas above your station? Carrying on the dojo should be a _real_ man's job!"

A splash of cold water to the face jerked Ranma from his spiel.

"Well, you're going to have a real problem then, aren't you?" Nabiki said, a smirk on her face, holding a now-empty glass in her hand. "Or do Jusenkyo curses just not count?"

"You shut up, you!" Ranma shouted, shaking the water from her hair. "You don't even have the right to talk about what I've got to deal with!" She turned back towards Akane to follow up on her words, only for her fire to fizzle out completely.

Akane's face was red and puffy, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. But her eyes were focused squarely on her.

"She doesn't have the right?" Her voice was trembling, as the act of speaking just seemed to draw more tears. " _I_ don't have the right?"

Akane's hand lashed out and struck Ranma hard across the cheek.

"Then _who does_?!"

Ranma watched Akane disappear up the stairs. A moment later, the slamming of her bedroom door resounded through the house.

"That was a stunning performance," Nabiki said idly, "even for you. I especially like how you managed to jab at her and me with that last remark."

Ranma just scowled at Nabiki. "She'll come around, won't she? Maybe she'll get over it?"

Nabiki just gave Ranma an ice-cold glare. "You want my honest answer? You better brush up on your apologising. By the morning, at the very least." She turned around and made her way up the stairs. "Daddy and Uncle Saotome might forgive you. But I know she wouldn't."

Ranma stood alone in the hallway, nursing the stinging handprint Akane left on her cheek. At that moment, thought of nothing more than regretting taking to heart what Soun had told her about thinking about her future.

Because as far as Ranma believed, the future was nothing but trouble coming her way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there again.
> 
> So this is me bringing out something I had on the backburner for a long time now. I’ve been messing around with variations on Hayate Ichimonji ever since I came up with him for the Anime Addventure so many years ago. I’ve always wanted to write this character, as someone who was kind of a hot-blooded punk, more like the standard Shonen Jump type hero than anything else.
> 
> I’m sure that there’s a lot of fanfics out there where the Tendou Dojo takes in students, or Ranma has a disciple, but I wanted to write something where the whole thing about teaching martial arts as such is front and center. There’s a little bit of History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi in there, to be sure.
> 
> This is currently my most major project as a fanfic which, considering the speed I usually write and put things out, means that it might take a little while between updates. But this is something I want to keep up on, regardless. So follow this story, subscribe, do whatever. And thank you for reading.


	2. Another Manic Monday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranma and Akane have barely gotten into their new roles as teachers, when the Karate Club return for revenge. And this time, they've brought some friends along to help out.

Ranma and Akane didn't talk to each other over breakfast the following morning. The dinner table was smothered with the tense silence between them; everyone at the table could tell that the two of them were quietly daring each other to say anything at all.

Soun looked between the silent couple, and loudly cleared his throat.

"Ranma-kun," Soun said, "about what happened last night..."  
  
Everyone turned to look at Soun, still silent. The effect was enough by itself to make Soun quail slightly. But he shrunk back further when he noticed the frosty glare Akane was giving him.

Ranma sighed deeply, and put down his chopsticks. "Look, I'm trying to figure something out, okay? You know how Akane’s like, right?"  
  
Soun and Genma sighed in relief, but Akane fixed a glare on Ranma that could’ve froze a lesser man’s blood. Even Ranma couldn’t help but shiver slightly.   
  
"What did I tell you, Tendou?" Genma said, turning to look at his friend. Conveniently, he was seated at an angle where he couldn’t see the expression on Akane’s face. "Our Ranma can handle it, as always. Then maybe Akane-chan can stop being upset about Ranma inheriting the schools..."   
  
Ranma blinked for a second. "Wait, what'd you say?" He could feel a bitter cold aura filling the room.   
  
Genma looked towards Ranma. "What, you really didn't think that Akane would still be heir, when you'll be around to carry on for the both of us? She's going to be your wife!"   
  
Soun nodded. "Akane is growing up to be a fine woman, Ranma-kun. But to be the master of Anything Goes Martial Arts is the work of a man, and despite the, well, obvious problem you have, you're the best man for the job." He fixed Ranma with a steely gaze. "Will you promise me that, Ranma?"   
  
Ranma blinked. For a moment, he couldn't find any words. The words that Akane said to him the night before kept playing in his head in an endless loop, accompanied with her tear-streaked face.

Suddenly, Akane rose from the table, and everyone turned to look at her. Akane’s eyes were dark and stormy, and her body seemed to radiate cold chi like an open freezer. Ranma knew when Akane was angry, she would blaze with hot chi, hot enough to boil the blood; this was an anger like nothing he had ever seen before  
  
“Thanks for the meal,” Akane said, her voice dripping with venom. “I’m going to school now. By myself.” She looked over at Ranma. “That means _don’t follow me_ , Ranma.”

Ranma watched in silence as Akane walked out to the hallway and stepped into her shoes. As she left, Ranma could feel a bead of sweat drip down the side of his head.

“S-she’ll come around!” Soun said, laughing loudly. “She always does!”

The laughter sounded so hollow that Ranma though he could use it as a bucket. And now all he was thinking was if he could try and make things up with Akane before the day’s Club meeting.

* * *

At the end of school, Ranma watched Akane as she silently packed up her school bag, and hefted up her gym bag with her training gi. "So, are you going down to the Karate Club today?"  
  
Akane didn't even look at him. "What do you think?" She zipped up her bag, and left the classroom.   
  
Ranma debated leaving Akane to go to the Karate Club by herself. He debated for all of two minutes, before cursing himself and making his way down to the clubhouse.   
  
To his surprise when he got there, the gym was almost empty, aside from Akane and two first year boys, still in their gi. Ranma looked around, confused, before approaching the two boys. "Where's the rest of you?"   
  
One boy just shrugged. "Beats me. The seniors are usually here before us."   
  
The other looked worried. "I had heard that the seniors were looking depressed all morning. And there were rumours that they were going to disband the Karate Club after what happened yesterday."   
  
Ranma felt his gut twist. So he just managed to break up Furinkan High's Karate Club, all by himself. That was just _great_ . He turned to look at Akane, who had already changed into her gi, and was doing warm-ups. She occasionally stole looks towards Ranma and the other two boys as she did so.   
  
The boys just looked at Ranma. "So should we go home, or should we just do our warm ups or what?"   
  
Ranma just sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "Go do whatever you do here. I don't care." He perked as he heard the door open, and turned to see Hayate stepping inside, in his school uniform, sports bag slung over his shoulder.   
  
Hayate looked around the gym for a moment. "Are the seniors not coming today, then?" He pulled off his shoes, stepping onto the wooden floor. "Maybe they’re still off plotting revenge somewhere?"   
  
Ranma just crossed his arms. "If they're coming back here for revenge, I'll be waiting for them."   
  
"Yeah, whatever." Hayate disappeared to the changing area.   
  
Ranma just scowled at the door Hayate disappeared behind, then looked towards Akane. "Your 'student' needs to learn some respect for his seniors, Akane!"   
  
"Maybe when his seniors learn not to be _jerks_ , then he can learn to have some respect for them!" Akane shot back. "Just get ready to start the session after Hayate gets back!"   
  
Ranma groaned, and looked over to see Hayate re-emerge, wearing nothing but a pair of red and black training shorts. "I thought you were learning Karate, not Muay Thai."   
  
Hayate's expression barely showed any reaction to Ranma's remark. "They didn't have any outfits in my size. Besides, my Mom said that if I'm learning Anything Goes Martial Arts, something like this would be more comfortable."   
  
Ranma just snorted. "Maybe the training would help ya to get some muscle on that pigeon-chest of yours..."   
  
Hayate scowled at Ranma, but went over to Akane, the other boys following behind him. Ranma sat against the wall, watching Akane as she began to guide Hayate through a warmup routine.   
  
The rest of the session was surprisingly smooth from then on. For how little Ranma thought of Akane's martial arts ability, she seemed to have really solid fundamentals. And her three students actually managed to keep up with her lessons, following the katas behind her with varying degrees of precision.   
  
Privately, Ranma wondered how the Karate Club was before he came along. Was Munekata and his buddies good at teaching the fundamentals? As good as Akane was? Did they even _bother_ to teach?   
  
Ranma kept watching as Akane taught, and let her students spar amongst themselves. He could feel the errant desire to get up and take part. Wasn't he a member of the Karate Club now? Or at least, a semi-member like Hayate was? Hell, Akane wasn’t looking to join, but now she’s leading the club like it was no big deal.   
  
Akane turned to look at Ranma, and he turned his gaze away. He tried to fight the heat in his face from rising, wanted to not let Akane see that she was giving him all these frustrating feelings. He didn't want to give Akane the satisfaction of seeing that she could still get a rise out of him so easily.   
  
"Are you just going to sit there, Ranma?" Akane's voice carried from the centre of the dojo. "Or are you going to come over and be a part of the club for once?"   
  
Ranma's face grew hotter. "I didn't come here to play with kids!"   
  
Akane's stare didn't falter. By any metric available, it just got sterner. "You scared off all the bigger boys, remember? At least come over and help with sparring!"   
  
Ranma's face creased, but he rose to his feet again. In a moment, he was center stage, next to Hayate.   
  
Akane looked between the two boys. "Now, you and Hayate can spar for now. Remember to go easy on each other this time, okay? That means no tricks, and definitely none of those Dragon Knees from you, Hayate."   
  
Hayate's mouth quirked for a moment, before turning to face Ranma. "In that case, please take care of me."   
  
"Yeah," Ranma replied, "I'll take care of _you_ , alright."   
  
Akane and the two first years watched as Hayate's fists blazed once again, and Ranma leapt and twisted through Hayate's blows, easily dodging each of them. Akane smiled a little at the sight, the memories of when she first sparred with Ranma flooding back to her. She looked back to see that the first years were watching with their jaws unhinged.   
  
To them, she supposed, this was martial arts on a different level. Even Hayate, who was about as green as they were, seemed to be quickly rising up in their eyes. Maybe, she thought to herself, it must've been what most people looked like when they got caught up in Ranma's hectic life.   
  
Akane wondered to herself if there had ever been a time, ever since Ranma came into her life, when things were just normal and sane.   
  
It was then that the door opened again, and two people stepped inside. Hinako came in first, in her child form, followed by a rather withered looking old man.   
  
"Oh goodie!" Hinako said. "It seems that the gym hasn't been abandoned after all!"   
  
Ranma and Hayate paused in their sparring, and turned to look at the two newcomers.   
  
"Hinako-sensei?" Akane asked. "What brings you here?"   
  
Hinako held up a sheet of paper. "I got this letter from the members of the Karate Club. They said that because of what happened yesterday, they were disbanding the club! Something about the 'shame of what happened being too great'." Her eyes scanned the now suddenly nervous students in front of her. "Did you people come in and frighten them off?"   
  
Akane shook her head. "Ranma and I wanted to join the Karate Club, and they all challenged him to a fight. And, well..."   
  
"I whipped their asses, and they fled." Ranma said.   
  
Hinako blinked for a moment. "Well, that's okay then. But with the seniors gone, I don't know if you can call this the Karate Club anymore. You guys got any suggestions for a new name?"   
  
Akane and Ranma exchanged glances.   
  
"How about the Anything Goes Martial Arts Club?" Ranma suggested.   
  
Akane nodded. “Might as well, right?”

* * *

After the inauguration of the Anything Goes Martial Arts Club, Ranma, Akane and Hayate walked through the courtyard of Furinkan High, now coloured a deep blue as the sun disappeared over the horizon.

Ranma watched Akane bounce with excitement with every step, barely able to contain herself. Even he could admit to himself that he was happy for her, that she seemed to be doing the whole sensei thing better than he expected.  
  
Even so, that just added to the weight on him: he thought the schools would be united under the Saotome name. His father probably thought so too. But he never really thought about becoming a teacher, or having to pass on his skills and techniques.   
  
The truth had become clear with Akane's words the night before: he never really thought about what it meant to be the heir to Anything Goes Martial Arts.   
  
"I'm going to Ucchan's for dinner." Ranma said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I suppose you'd want to come along?"   
  
Akane looked back at Hayate for a second. "I suppose so, Ranma."   
  
Hayate blinked for a second. "Y-yeah, okay."   
  
Ranma nodded, and then suddenly burst into a dead sprint towards the gates. "I'll see you there!"   
  
Hayate gaped as Ranma reached the gate in the time it took for his words to register. "Hey!"   
  
Akane simply looked back at Hayate once more. "Come on! Before he ends up stranding us here!" And then she took off after Ranma, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.   
  
Hayate stared after them for a moment. "Hey!" And then he was off after them, sprinting as hard as he could. "Don't leave me behind, you jerks!"

* * *

 

By the time Hayate managed to get to Ucchan's, Ranma was stood waiting beside the door for about a minute or so. Akane was jogging up to him after that, Hayate staggering just behind her and falling to his knees when they stopped.  
  
"How long were you two planning on keeping me waiting?" Ranma asked, before turning around and pushing his way inside. "Ucchan's probably wondering why I'm hanging out here now..."   
  
Akane just sighed, and helped Hayate to his feet. "You just need to work on your cardio a bit more. At least then you'll last longer, even if you can't keep up with Ranma."   
  
"What the hell kind of cardio does he have, then?" Hayate said between gasps for breath.   
  
Akane could only smile in response. "Ranma's been training for a lot longer than you think, Hayate-kun."   
  
Inside, Ukyou was still plenty busy, cooking okonomiyaki as her waitress Konatsu hurried around with drinks. She smiled as Ranma came in. "Ran-chan! Welcome! I'm guessing you want your usual..."   
  
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, of course." He looked back as Akane and Hayate made their way in behind him. "Got two more tonight, too."   
  
"Hey, Akane." Ukyou smiled as she flipped another okonomiyaki. "Who's the new boy?"   
  
Akane quickly took a seat along the counter with Ranma, Hayate sitting beside her. "This is Hayate-kun. He's sort of become our student at our dojo since yesterday. Could I have some water?"   
  
Ukyou nodded, reaching back to prepare two fresh bowls of batter. "Since that incident with the Karate Club, right? Those guys must've either been pretty strong or pretty crazy to be challenging you, Ranma."   
  
Akane just shrugged. "I think they must've really thought they were stronger than they really are. I've seen some of the things Ranma has done, and sometimes even I can't believe it myself."   
  
Ranma smirked a little bit. "I guess some people here still think they can take me on. At least it keeps things interesting around here."   
  
Hayate was silent, until somebody stepped beside him to place a glass of cold water on the counter. He turned to see a tall, dark-haired beauty dressed in a red kimono, smiling down at him.   
  
"Here's your water." Konatsu said softly, before turning away towards another customer.   
  
Hayate watched Konatsu go, her ponytail swaying slightly behind her, moving to serve other customers. He was mesmerised as he saw the way she moved around the shop, smiling at the customers, bringing the drinks.   
  
"Pretty..." He mumbled under his breath.   
  
"Hayate-kun?" Ukyou said, snapping him out of the spell. "What would you like?"   
  
Hayate blinked owlishly at Ukyou for a moment, and then scrabbled through his brain to find suitable words for a response. "The usual?"   
  
Ukyou snorted a little. "I think maybe you'd like a pork deluxe, then. Maybe _that'll_ bring you to your senses."   
  
Hayate blinked for a moment, and then noticed that Ranma and Akane were both looking at him. He stared back for a moment, before gulping down his water.   
  
Akane smiled slightly at Hayate, before turning back to her okonomiyaki. Ranma just sighed, giving Hayate the most pitying of looks.   
  
Hayate's cheeks heated slightly. "What?"   
  
Ukyou snorted a little bit. "You look like you get distracted pretty easily. That's not gonna help you in a fight." She ladled a bowl full of batter, and started mixing in various ingredients. "Though I know Konatsu is an expert at keeping the boys' attention."   
  
Konatsu passed by, giggling softly, her cheeks tinted red. "Ukyou-sama, you flatter me much too much!"   
  
Hayate just shrugged, and watched his okonomiyaki cook. However, he couldn't help but steal glances towards Konatsu every time she passed by.

* * *

The three parted ways after dinner, Hayate heading home quickly. Akane and Ranma walked home in silence, just like in the morning. It wasn't until they got to the front gate of the house that Ranma finally spoke.  
  
"You looked like you were having fun today." Ranma hoped that the words came out less like a snide remark, more as a general statement. He knew he might not have been the best judge on the right thing to say in a situation, but he could at least not sound hurtful.   
  
Akane paused before she stepped through, and turned to look at Ranma. "Of course. It was fun to do something different, once in a while. Though I think you were going to object to me leading the club."   
  
Ranma made a face. "And get slapped in front of the others? No thanks. Besides, I thought you did a pretty good job out there."   
  
Akane blinked at Ranma. "Really?"

“Those first-years were following your kata every step of the way,” Ranma said quietly, looking out towards the top of the nearby wall. “They seemed to take to what you were teaching them. And they seemed to look up to you, too! You taught them better than even I expected you to!”

Akane was silent for a moment, before she stepped closer to Ranma. She gave him a soft smile that made his heart skip.

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

Then she quickly made her way into the house.  
  
Ranma just stood in the front garden, deep in thought.

He thought that Akane would have eventually accepted the idea that he would be the one to unite the two schools of martial arts. He almost thought that he could just pass it all off as just her reacting badly to whatever he said, like she usually did.  
  
But when he watched Akane doing her thing, and he remembered her face at that moment, he knew he couldn't justify himself. At the very least, he knew that Akane would prove his words wrong.

* * *

 

"Was Saotome always that strong?"  
  
"I thought all of those stories were just tall tales and lies! Didn't you tell us that, Munekata?!"   
  
"We should've just let him into the club when we had the chance! What are we gonna do without our gym?!"   
  
"Hey, _shut up_ !" Munekata bellowed, loud enough to shake the windows of the classroom the remains of the Karate Club managed to commandeer. "Quit all of your bellyaching and let me talk!"   
  
The other club members left were mostly seniors like he was, with most of the first years having already left or considering joining Saotome's new Anything Goes Martial Arts Club. And of those who were left, only Munekata seemed to not be currently pissing themselves with fear over the humiliation that Saotome dealt them on that damned day.   
  
"So Saotome is as strong as everyone says he is? Then that means we're going to have to play dirty to get our revenge." Munekata turned slightly. "I've been talking with Oyama-sensei."   
  
At the mention of that name, there was a ripple of fear amongst the group in front of him. Munekata had to smile at that. Masaki Oyama was known amongst the Karate Club as a pretty strong guy. The type of strong that could break through concrete with a single punch, or bend steel. He graduated from Furinkan High at the same time as the legendary Tatewaki Kuno, the Kendo team's Blue Thunder, but he had been in touch with the newly made seniors of the Karate Club as an unofficial adviser.   
  
Oyama was the kind of guy to keep to himself, though. He didn't take part in the massive morning brawls for Akane Tendou, or fought Ranma or anyone else in that little wheelhouse. He always used to say that Saotome wasn't worth his time, as far as he cared. As far as Munekata knew, anyone who would say that about Ranma Saotome was somebody to be reckoned with.   
  
"You talked with Oyama-sensei?!" One youth said. "What did he say?"   
  
Munekata only grinned. "He says he got some guys he knows who'd love to come and see Saotome's new club. They're gonna pay him a visit on Monday. And when they do..."   
  
Munekata slammed his fist through the top of the desk he sat on.   
  
"Saotome's as good as _finished_!"

* * *

Hayate usually didn't wake up early on Monday mornings. Hell, he usually didn't wake up early on most mornings. So he couldn't help but notice the funny way his mother looked at him when he was down the stairs in uniform by six-thirty in the morning.  
  
"Have you got somewhere to go before school?" She asked, not even bothering to guess where he might be going. "You'd better eat something first, though. Whatever it is can't be more important than breakfast."   
  
After bolting down some rice, grilled fish and a couple of slices of toast, Hayate was out the door and down the street, heading straight for the Tendou Dojo. It was a few days since he started training with Akane, and he knew he wanted to make it full-time, despite the fact that he would always wake up sore. And even then it seemed that the soreness seemed to come less and less.   
  
By the time he managed to get to the Dojo, there was already sounds of scuffling and shouting coming from the inside. As Hayate peered inside, he saw Ranma, fighting with his father Genma in the front garden. Genma, to his credit, seemed to be holding his own reasonably well against Ranma.

Then for one moment, Ranma looked towards Hayate, his eyes widening when he noticed him standing there. For a moment, Ranma had froze, and Hayate could tell that was not a safe way to be.  
  
In a second, Genma had grabbed Ranma, and tried to toss him into the koi pond. Unfortunately for him, Ranma slipped out of his grip, and leapt off his back, sending the old man careening into the pond himself.   
  
Ranma smiled at Hayate as he landed gracefully in front of him. "Guess I kept you waiting, huh?"   
  
Hayate just gave another shrug. "I just got here." He looked past Ranma towards the pond. "Is this some kind of game you guys like to play? Trying to see who gets an early morning bath first?"   
  
Ranma smirked. "Pop likes to give me a workout every morning. And he usually thinks he can knock me in there." He snorted a little. "Let me tell you, wet clothes on a morning like this is a real pain to get dry again..."   
  
Ranma was cut off by the massive shape of his father bursting out of the pond, landing behind him. Hayate gaped at the large panda, fur completely soaked, standing in the middle of the garden.   
  
"What the hell?! A panda?!"   
  
Ranma looked back at Genma, who simply glared at him. "Oh yeah, he can do that. You heard about the whole turning into a girl thing, right? This is what my pop can do."   
  
Hayate looked between Ranma and Genma. "You're telling me that your dad is that giant panda that keeps wandering around here?"   
  
Ranma grinned at him. "I know, right? Don't you think it suits him? Everyone says it's an improvement on his old ugly mug any day!" He chuckled a bit.   
  
Genma scowled at Ranma and Hayate and, in one swift motion, tossed a bucket of cold water right on Ranma as he laughed. Hayate leapt back as the water struck Ranma.   
  
Irritably, Hayate brushed off the stray water from his uniform. "Yeah, well, looks like he made an improvement on _you_ , too."   
  
Ranma stood before Hayate, in girl form, shivering as the water soaked through her clothes. "I'm gonna get you for that, old man." She snarled, before turning and making her way back inside the Tendou home.   
  
Hayate just sat on the walkway and waited for Ranma to get changed again, while Genma dumped his sodden clothes and sat at the table to eat some breakfast. After a moment, Akane entered the living room, and sat on the side of the table nearest the walkway, next to Hayate.   
  
"Morning!" She said to Hayate, brightly. "You're up bright and early."   
  
"First time in my life." Hayate replied. "Usually I just head straight for school."   
  
"So you'd thought you'd come here first?" Akane asked, taking a grilled fish from the big plate in the middle of the table. "You must be serious about coming here."   
  
Hayate nodded. "I guess I got nothing better to do these days. Then again, I'm one of the members of the Anything Goes Martial Arts Club. That makes you and Ranma my senpai, right?"   
  
Akane just smiled. "You get the idea. Though I think it would be more appropriate if you could call me sensei, too." Her chest puffed out slightly with pride.   
  
Hayate couldn't help but smile a little. "Sure thing, Akane-sensei."   
  
After breakfast, Ranma, Akane and Hayate were out the door and through the front gate, and on the way to school. Once again, Hayate found himself jogging after Akane, trying his best to keep up. But he was surprised to see Ranma jogging beside him, instead of running on the fence as he always did. He was even more surprised when Ranma decided to climb onto his back part of the way to school.   
  
Hayate staggered with the extra weight on his back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He struggled slightly, his hands automatically reaching back to help support Ranma so he didn't slip off.   
  
Ranma wrapped his arms around Hayate's neck. "You've been exercising a lot more these past few days, but you look like you're getting used to it. So, I'm stepping up the game." He tapped his heels lightly against Hayate's ribs. "To school now, my boy, and don't be late! Chop chop!"   
  
Hayate growled low at Ranma, but nevertheless started jogging after Akane again. Akane who, for her part, wasn't exactly amused by Ranma's new idea for training. Instead, she just ran on, only pacing herself for Hayate's sake.   
  
By the time that Hayate managed to carry Ranma past the school gate, it was only five minutes before class had to start. It also didn't help him that a lot of students on the way there seemed to be pointing and giggling at him as they passed by. Hayate at least took solace in that Munekata wasn't among them. Thankfully, Ranma got off Hayate's back as he tried to catch his breath before the last bell rang.   
  
"You're still a bit too slow, kid." Ranma told him. "You'd need to get faster if you're gonna learn to be a real martial artist."   
  
Akane swatted Ranma with her bookbag irritably. "If you don't get to class right now, I'm going to tell Hinako-sensei about what you just did!"   
  
Ranma held up a hand to block Akane's blows. "Alright, alright. See you later, kid." He dashed off into the school, Akane following not soon after.   
  
Hayate groaned, and headed in after them, privately hoping that Akane would keep Ranma from trying to "step up" his training any more than he needed to.

* * *

 

The second that the school bell rang to signal the first break, Hayate found his desk surrounded by students.  
  
In front of him was a young man with curly light brown hair, leaning against the desk in front. He smiled down at Hayate knowingly, as he did for most of the morning's class. That smile was seriously starting to put Hayate on edge.   
  
"So you're the new student of Ranma Saotome that I've been hearing so much about?"   
  
Hayate was quiet for a moment, just looking at the brown-haired kid with no small degree of caution. "Yeah?" He didn't feel like pointing out that he was more a student of Akane than of Ranma, as he figured some people wouldn't believe him on that front. Even though it made him feel bad for Akane, he knew it wasn't worth the bother. Not yet, anyway.   
  
The boy kept his gaze on Hayate, the smile unwavering. "I bet you've already heard all the stories from the other seniors at school. Some of the stuff out there sounds pretty crazy, you know?" He paused for a moment. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself!" He extended a hand towards Hayate. "I'm Sion P. Sanada. Pleased to meet you."   
  
Hayate stared at Sion's extended hand. "Sion-P?"   
  
"The 'P' stands for 'Patrick'." Sion's hand moved smoothly away from Hayate, not bothering to wait for him to reconsider. "I've come here from Chikuwa Middle School. And let me tell you, there's been no end to the crazy stories about this school that's been floating around there. Hell, I've even heard some from my older brother too, and he's in Saotome's class!"   
  
Hayate just groaned. "Look, I've just had a rough morning..."   
  
"I could tell," Sion said, "I saw you giving Saotome a piggyback ride to school today. Did he hurt his leg breaking blocks or something?"   
  
Hayate scowled at Sion. "I was doing some cardio, alright? Ranma-senpai thought it'd be a good idea to add some extra weight."   
  
Sion just grinned a little. "You know, ankle weights are like five hundred yen from the local sports store..."   
  
Hayate fought the urge to toss his notebook at Sion's face. Mostly because that'd mean he'd lose a perfectly good notebook. "Do I look like I care right now?"   
  
"Maybe not. But how about this?" Sion leaned closer to Hayate, over the desk. "I've seen a couple of students here who look like they've come in from another school. A pair of delinquents if I've ever seen them, too. And both of them were around the school with your old friend from the Karate Club, Munekata-senpai."   
  
Hayate stared up at Sion. He didn't need to ask about what Sion was getting at, because he could already guess. After all, the seniors would be the type to be itching for revenge.   
  
His thoughts were interrupted by the classroom door opening again. However, it wasn't the teacher who stepped inside, but a small-looking kid with close cropped hair, bleached an eye-searing blonde.   
  
And he was walking straight towards Hayate and Sion.   
  
Hayate looked back at Sion briefly before he pushed back in his chair, ready for whatever happened next. As the kid got closer, Hayate could tell that Sion was right about him looking like a delinquent: his eyebrows were shaved off, which made his large grey eyes look sharper and more sinister.   
  
The boy smiled at Hayate as he walked up to his desk. "Hey there. You're Ranma Saotome's new student, right?"   
  
Sion smiled back. "Of course! Haven't you heard?"   
  
In the next moment, the boy's foot smashed into the top of Hayate's desk, causing the top to crack from the force. Every classmate around the desk tumbled back from the force of the sudden impact. Even Sion flinched from the blow, his smile slightly warped from the shock. Hayate barely even flinched.   
  
Hayate looked at the boy, and at the foot on his desk. His eyes were stone cold. "Is this supposed to intimidate me or something?"   
  
"I would hope so," the boy replied, "it would be a shame to have to break something else of yours."   
  
Sion waved his hands in a mock gesture of appeasement. "Alright... Okay.... Munekata-senpai brought you along, didn't he? Well, you shouldn't have to threaten Ichimonji-kun, should you?" He looked over at Hayate. "You've got nothing to do with all of this right, Ichimonji-kun?"   
  
Hayate just shrugged.   
  
The boy, however, didn't seem to be impressed. "Ichimonji-kun, sure. But Munekata-senpai said that I should pay you a visit, too. Nothing personal, of course."   
  
Hayate stared back at the boy. Was Munekata that pissed, that he'd try and target him as well? He considered rising out of his seat to confront the boy, even though it would probably lead to another trip to Concussion Land. "And what would Munekata-senpai want with me? Technically, Ranma-senpai doesn't even train me. He just leaves it to his fiancee."   
  
The boy smirked a little bit, tilting his head forward and looking up at Hayate. "Munekata-senpai said that Saotome, Tendou, you and anyone else in the Anything Goes Club were a target. Even those first years you've been training with after school. Though Munekata-senpai also said that he wanted to deal with you personally."   
  
Sion blinked. "Is that just because he thinks Ichimonji is one of the weaker ones, or..."   
  
The boy grinned. "Hell if I know. But I just wanted to send a message to Ichimonji-kun, before my buddies beat the shit out of his Sensei at lunch break."   
  
Hayate rose from his chair. "Why don't you just try, see where that gets ya?"   
  
The boy turned to face Hayate. "Try what?" He grinned at Hayate with a sickening glee. "Wanna try me? Go ahead! I've been itching to kick some ass all morning!"   
  
Hayate was about to step forward when he felt a hand on his arm.   
  
"Hayate-kun."   
  
Hayate turned to see another student, a young woman with long black hair in a ponytail, glasses and a small amount of lipstick. He blinked in confusion for a moment. When recognition set in, he blinked again in surprise..   
  
"... _Konatsu_ ?" Hayate could feel his face start to burn again. "You're a student here?"   
  
Konatsu gave Hayate a smile, before turning to the bleach-blond boy. "Could you tell your friend that we'll be waiting at lunch time for you, out on the sports field? I would hope you would understand the need to keep up with our studies?"   
  
The boy stared at Konatsu for a long while, sizing the girl up. Then he smiled.   
  
"Sure thing. I'll see you at lunchtime, then."   
  
Quietly, the boy turned and left, the whole of the classroom watching him as he closed the classroom door behind him. As the door shut, sounds of relief and nervous murmurs filled the classroom.   
  
Hayate turned nervously towards Konatsu. "So, uh... You're a student here too?"   
  
Konatsu smiled at Hayate. "In a manner of speaking."   
  
"In a manner of speaking?" Hayate asked.   
  
"I accompany Ukyou-sama while she studies here, of course." Konatsu adjusted her glasses with her hand. "I owe my life because of what she's done for me." The smile faded from her face. "Hayate-kun, be careful. That boy is very dangerous, and you can't take him on alone yet."   
  
Hayate looked back towards his desk, nearly cracked in half from the force of the blond boy's foot. "So what do I do? Keep my head down and just wait for Ranma to come along?"   
  
Konatsu was silent for a moment, considering the question. "Well, you don't need to hold yourself back that much. After all, you're not going out there alone."

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in the year above, Ranma was stewing at his desk.  
  
Munekata loomed over him from in front of his school desk, a sick sneer on his face.   
  
"Good morning," he said, his voice barely hiding glee at Ranma's discomfort, "I trust that you've been treating our clubhouse well in my absence..."   
  
Ranma just glared at Munekata, crossing his arms under his chest. "What, you'd think I couldn't take care of one little shack?"   
  
Munekata just smirked. "I dunno, I heard you have a reputation of being a..." He leaned in close, until his nose was almost brushing Ranma's. " _Home. Wrecker._ "   
  
The classroom was silent for a long moment, but for the sound of a cold wind blowing past the school.   
  
Ranma scowled, pushing his chair back away from the desk, and Munekata. "Just because your wit is so freakin' sharp don't mean you're getting your clubhouse back. The school committee handed it over to me when you bailed out the door and didn't come back."   
  
Munekata's sneer didn't fade. In fact, Ranma was sure that the sneer was now even more... _sneerier_ than before. "Well, that's why I'm here, Saotome. I've just been to the principal, and he gave me _THIS_ !" He suddenly whipped his arm out in an arc in front of Ranma, to slam in the front of his desk, sending splinters of wood flying out in all directions.   
  
Ranma turned his face away and shielded it with his hand. When he lowered it again to look at his desk, he was rather surprised to see a large coconut embedded in his desk. Written on the top of the coconut was one phrase:   
  
挑戦 - _Chousen_ \- "Challenge"   
  
Ranma had to admit, the principal sure had a way of making sure that you could tell when something had his approval.   
  
"At lunch break, me and the seniors will be at the playing fields, waiting for you and your boys." Munekata explained. "There we settle on who's getting the clubhouse. And you'd better be there, Saotome, because I made sure if you don't, the house will be ours by default. I held the Principal to that."   
  
And with that, Munekata turned on his heel and stalked out of the classroom, leaving Ranma to contemplate exactly how to get a deeply embedded coconut out from his desk.

When Miss Hinako entered the classroom to start her lesson, she could already feel the tension in the air, thick and heavy. She had heard about the Karate Club's challenge, but she sure wasn't going to let a club dispute get in the way of her teaching her students. Instead, she gathered her materials and begun her lesson.  
  
It was obvious, however, that Ranma was much more interested in what was going to happen after the lesson than anything else. He shifted and fidgeted in his seat, almost bouncing like a rabbit. She fixed Ranma with a glare, but he barely stopped fidgeting, no matter how hard the glare.   
  
Part way through her lesson, Ukyou suddenly rose from her chair. "Sensei! I'm not feeling too well. May I be excused?"   
  
Before Hinako realized it, the words were already out of her mouth: "What? Oh, alright then..."   
  
And when Hinako had realised what she had said, Ukyou was already out the door and down the hall.   
  
The next moment, Ranma and Akane rose as well.   
  
"You two, _sit down_ !" Hinako barked out, pulling out her fifty yen coin and pointing it at the class. "Unless you people are gonna be puking blood everywhere or something, nobody else is leaving this classroom until I'm done! So just sit your butts down!"   
  
Slowly, Ranma and Akane returned to their seats, both with looks of worry on their faces.

* * *

 

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Hayate, Konatsu and Sion burst out of their seats and dashing towards the playing fields, hoping against hope to get there in time. Hayate could tell that Akane's training regime at least gave him one improvement; he was running faster than he ever did before.  
  
However, Konatsu was still ahead of him, even at full speed, practically flying down the hallways of the school. The evidence of a lifelong martial artist, Hayate supposed. He took the steps down to the ground floor two at a time, while Konatsu simply leapt clear of the stairs, gliding through the air effortlessly.   
  
By the time Hayate and Konatsu had got to the fields, they saw a small group standing in the middle of the largest playing field; all of the senior members of the Karate Club, dressed in full uniform, behind Munekata, and three students that Hayate could tell at a glance weren't even from Furinkan High, let alone from any club he knew about.   
  
The blond boy from earlier was among them, grinning from ear to ear as he looked around the field. By his side was a darker-skinned boy with a buzzcut who was not only taller than him, but also taller than Munekata as well. Hayate could almost guess that he could've been the tallest person his age in the entire school. The fact that he was just as broad as he was tall just was icing on the proverbial cake. And by their side was a young woman in a PE uniform, her hands wrapped in thick-looking strips of cloth.   
  
Hayate could already tell at a glance that the three were the ringers that Munekata had brought in to help destroy the Anything Goes club. They certainly looked the part.   
  
Hayate turned to look at Konatsu. "Well, what now? We can't just take on all of them by ourselves..." He looked over at Sion. "You even know where Senpai and Sensei are?"   
  
Sion just shrugged. "I've not exactly have had the time to have my ear to the ground just yet..." His eyes scanned the playing fields for a moment, before focusing in. "Oh hey, looks like we've found someone else, though." He pointed towards an indistinct figure on the field.   
  
Hayate squinted for a moment at the figure. They seemed to be wearing a different uniform, a grey one with black shoes, and had long brown hair and... was that a giant spatula on their back?   
  
"Ukyou-sama..." Konatsu said, her voice tight. "What is _she_ doing out there?" She looked towards Hayate and Sion. "You have to find Ranma-sama and Akane-sama! They might still be in class! Hurry!"   
  
Sion stood bolt upright for a moment, before dashing off back in the direction of school. He kicked up dust as he sprinted back down towards the school.   
  
Hayate turned to look at Ukyou again. "I don't want to leave her there by herself." He looked towards Konatsu. "I'm guessing you're not staying here either?"   
  
Konatsu smiled sadly at Hayate. "Of course not, Hayate-kun."   
  
Then the two, as one, stepped down onto the playing field, slowly approaching the Karate Club gathered in the middle.   
  
The club members looked to see Ukyou approaching, unsheathing the giant baker's peel from her back as she stepped closer. Then they looked to see Hayate and Konatsu behind them, preparing for a fight.   
  
Munekata sneered as Hayate got closer. "Saotome's not coming?"   
  
"He doesn't need to be here," Ukyou said, "I came here by myself." She held her spatula at the ready. "I can take you _all_ on!"   
  
A rise of cheers and laughter came from the assembled group.   
  
"You and your two little girls?" Munekata said, laughing. "I don't think so! We've got three trump cards here, hand-picked by the Karate Club's founder, Masaki Oyama himself!"   
  
Ukyou simply glared. "Is that supposed to impress me?"   
  
Konatsu blinked for a moment. "Oyama?"   
  
Hayate just shrugged. "He’s like a former student Munekata and the other seniors all look up. He's kind of like their idol. Kinda reminds me of those Sonny Chiba movies, with the karate guy that fights a bull..?" He trailed off as he noticed Konatsu's blank look, and looked away, blushing. "Never mind."   
  
The large youth stepped forward, his every step felt even from across the field. "I don't mind having a good appetizer before the main course, you know." He popped his knuckles against his palms, the cracks loud like gunshots. "Just make sure it's worth my time."   
  
The Karate Club stepped back as the man-mountain faced Ukyou, arms out, hands open in a grappling stance, while Ukyou held her spatula at the ready, edge pointed towards the giant youth.   
  
"Your move." The giant youth said.   
  
Ukyou charged the giant, spatula raised high, as if to bring down on the giant's head like an axe. But as the giant youth stepped aside to dodge, Ukyou suddenly spun around, turning in a full circle, to slam the side of the spatula against her opponent's side.   
  
The impact was hard enough that Hayate could feel it from several feet away through the tremors through the ground, let alone the blast of wind and dust.   
  
The giant grabbed the side of Ukyou's spatula. "Nice hit. If it were anyone else other than me who took that, they would've been sent flying.” He pulled roughly on the weapon, pulling Ukyou forward towards him. “But me? It just stings.”   
  
Before Ukyou could react, she was caught in the giant's arms, constricted in a tight bear hug. She tried to struggle out of the giant's grip, but he just responded with a squeeze that knocked all the breath out of her.   
  
"Ukyou-sama!" Konatsu cried out as Ukyou struggled in the giant's grasp. But Ukyou didn't respond, her struggles growing weaker by the second.   
  
Konatsu sprinted forward towards the giant, only to stop short as the girl dashed in and swung a hard haymaker towards her face. She barely managed to duck the fist, but could barely do so before she was on her, fists blazing.   
  
Hayate nearly stepped forward, only for the blond boy to step forward as well, gaze firmly fixed on him. The thought of challenging the boy passed through Hayate's mind for a moment: Konatsu thought he wasn't good enough to take him on, and he probably could have guessed that she was right. But he also knew that he didn't want to be standing on the sidelines, especially when someone was in danger.   
  
Hayate looked towards Konatsu, who was ducking and weaving around the girl's lightning-fast blows, her eyes firmly set on Ukyou. Well, if she was planning on risking herself to save somebody, why shouldn't he?   
  
Hayate stepped forwards, towards the blond boy. "You better let her go, dude. She's got nothing to do with the Karate Club, or Anything Goes. She's just Ranma-senpai's friend."   
  
The boy simply grinned at him. "You sure got a lot of spirit, walking up to somebody like that."   
  
Hayate took another step forward, only to back away slightly when the boy suddenly shot forward and lashed out with a standing side kick that barely missed his sternum. For a moment, Hayate nearly saw his life flash before his eyes, before the adrenaline started to take over. But even then, he could see the boy's next attack, a roundhouse kick to the face.   
  
The boy's foot struck Hayate's raised arm with a force that Hayate could feel throughout his arm and into his chest. Hayate lunged forward to answer with a straight punch to the chest, only for the boy to spring back ahead of his fist.   
  
Hayate stared the boy down as he assumed a stance. "Looks like you're as tough as you look."   
  
The boy grinned at him again, and Hayate was urged to try and wipe the grin off his face. "Well, you look like you're just a beginner. At least you've got spirit, though!" Then the boy leapt forward again, delivering a flurry of kicks.   
  
Hayate brought his arms up, trying to weave through the blows, only to get buffeted from side to side as some of them managed to hit him in the shoulders and arms, rattling his bones. As one kick slammed into his arm, Hayate managed to grab the boy's foot with both hands, and tried to twist him over.   
  
Unfortunately, the boy kept twisting in the air, and slammed his other foot into the side of Hayate's head. Hayate's head rang as he toppled over, his face slamming into the dirt.   
  
"Got a bit too greedy there?" The boy kept grinning at him. "That just makes this more fun!"   
  
The next moment Hayate knew, the boy was suddenly bowled over by a crimson blur that smacked him clean in the face. The blur landed in the dirt as the boy rolled backwards across the field.   
  
He shook his head to try and clear his vision, and opened his eyes to see Konatsu who was suddenly wearing a strange red outfit... Wait, since _when_ did she change? Wasn't she wearing her uniform?! And _why was she dressing as a ninja_ ?!   
  
Konatsu turned to see Hayate. "Are you alright, Hayate-kun? Can you stand?"   
  
Hayate blinked for a second, before rising to his feet, his vision wobbling slightly. "I think I'm fine. Wait, what happened with that..." He peered over to where the other girl stood... Or at least where he thought she was stood, and not face down in the grass as she currently was.   
  
"You dealt with her that quickly?"   
  
Konatsu flushed prettily. "Well, yes. She was very dangerous, though. But that is nothing a Genius Kunoichi can handle."   
  
Hayate looked over at Munekata and the giant youth, who were both looking at Konatsu. Well, the giant youth was just looking, Munekata seemed to just be gaping like a landed fish.   
  
Munekata looked back at the giant. "This is a _joke_ , right? This is some kind of deluded weirdo that never got over herself after middle school, right? Don't tell me that you're really some kind of ninja!"   
  
Konatsu blinked. "Middle school? I don't think I've ever been there."   
  
Hayate gave Konatsu a funny look. "You've never been to middle school? Ain't that against the law?"   
  
Konatsu's eyes widened. " _It is_ ?!"   
  
The giant youth just snickered. "What, you don't think there might be ninjas running around here, Munekata-senpai? Did you forget what kind of stories seem to float around this little 'burb?"   
  
Hayate gave the giant another funny look. So even he called Munekata-senpai? What year WAS this guy in? Is he really a student?   
  
"I gotta admit," the giant said, "You must be a hot little number to be able to take out both Tsuruya and Makabe as quickly as you did. Not even the toughest members of our school can pull that off."   
  
Konatsu glared at the giant youth, turning up her nose. "I suppose none of you have heard of the Once In A Hundred Years Genius Kunoichi, then?"   
  
The giant simply shook his head in response, but he still had an amused smile on his face. "Can't say that I have."   
  
"Give up Ukyou-sama, the woman you hold in your hands!" Konatsu pointed imperiously at the giant youth. "She is precious to me, and I won't forgive anyone who has lain their unworthy fingers on her!"   
  
The giant youth's grin widened. "So you want to challenge me too? I like the sound of that."   
  
"I've got a better offer for ya! You let Ucchan go, and I'll take you on _myself_ , no questions asked!"   
  
Everyone turned to see Ranma, who stood on the edge of the playing field, arms crossed. Akane stood behind him, her eyes filled with worry, looking towards Ukyou's limp body.

 

Ranma was already walking towards the Karate Club, his eyes burning with fire. "I thought you were pretty much gone after last time, but it looks like I'm gonna need to step up my game today."  
  
The giant youth blinked as the Karate Club, with the exception of Munekata, suddenly dove behind him. He looked behind for a moment, before turning his gaze to Ranma with the intensity of a high-grade laser. "So you're the guy that the Karate Club hired me to take out, huh?"   
  
Ranma gave the giant a smile. "I'm Ranma Saotome, if that's what you mean. So I'm guessing that you must be one of the guys the Karate Club hired to take me out. How much did Munekata manage to scrounge up for me?"   
  
The giant's eyes flashed. "When I found out that the target was you, I told them I would work for free." He let Ukyou land on the floor with a thump. "So, how about it? You want to try your luck with me?"   
  
Ranma grinned widely. "What, like I have a choice?" He approached the giant, passing by Hayate and Konatsu quietly, the grin still on his face. Hayate was reminded somewhat of the blond boy ( _Tsuruya?_ ) when he saw Ranma's grin.   
  
The giant stepped towards Ranma, a grin still on his face. "I hope that you're as good as what I've been hearing about you. Would be a shame to go to all this trouble to just trounce you in a second."   
  
"Is it all gas in that body of yours," Ranma asked, "Or are you just stalling for time?"   
  
In the next moment, the giant was already barreling towards Ranma at high speed, faster than anyone expected. Ranma leapt out of the way of the charge, or at least tried to, only for a large hand to grab him by the ankle before he could make it all the way over.   
  
"It's not all gas in this body!" The giant yelled. "This is three hundred pounds of solid muscle!" He then swung Ranma like a throwing hammer, tossing him through the air.   
  
Ranma righted himself quickly, landing on the grass on his feet. "When it comes to fighting, big muscles by themselves won't get you anywhere!" He sprang forward, leg extended into a kick.   
  
Ranma slammed into the giant with great force, a great cloud of dust being kicked up around them. But when it cleared, Ranma was caught in the same vice-like grip as Ukyou was.   
  
"You might be right,” the giant said, “but it takes more than fancy tricks and acrobatics to knock me down! Not even ten men of your strength can move me!" He tightened his grip on Ranma's chest. "And nobody has been able to escape from my bear hug to date!"   
  
Ranma gritted his teeth as the massive arms crushed down on him. He wriggled back and forth, but he knew it was of little use: he felt like he was being held fast against a tree trunk. Quickly, he wracked his brains for a plan to get himself out of the giant youth’s grip.

 

Somehow, either from desperation or from lack of oxygen and blood flow, one idea floated into Ranma’s mind. And when it did, he took it without hesitation.

 

The large youth screamed as Ranma bit down on his ear, hard enough to draw blood. As he screamed, Ranma could feel the grip loosen around him, and he kicked off the massive body to land on the ground.

  
Shakily, Ranma rose to his feet, smirking. "Guess that makes me the first!"   
  
The next moment, the giant’s arms were around him once more, catching him in a headlock.   
  
"I'm not finished yet!" The giant pulled back on Ranma's neck, leg winding around to step between Ranma's own, and keep him held down. "You're the first to escape my bear hug, but you can't hit hard enough to keep me down!"   
  
Ranma twisted against the giant's grip, managing to make some space between the massive arms. "Don't think I'm not gonna beat you!" His fist slammed against the giant's gut several times, hard enough to split wood.   
  
"Is that the best you got?!" The giant turned, and Ranma was flipped over his body, sent careening off across the field. This time, he landed hard on his back, and the giant was slowly approaching again.   
  
The crowd watched silently as Ranma slowly rose from the grass, his face pinched and rough from the treatment between the giant's arms. "Not even close. Here's something that'll really knock your socks off!"   
  
Ranma sprang forward again, fist raised, screaming towards his opponent, who braced himself for the next impact. Again, his fist slammed into the giant's gut. And again, the impact was immense.   
  
The giant skidded back slightly, grimacing in pain. "I felt that one!" He looked at Ranma in surprise.   
  
Ranma just nodded. "That was just one. Here's a whole lot more!" And then Ranma's fists blazed towards the giant, moving at such speed that it looked more like several fists pummeling the giant, hammering him with such force that he was being driven back with every hit.   
  
And then Ranma sprang forward into a side kick straight into the gut, that knocked the giant off his feet, and sent him toppling to the ground. He slammed into the dirt, dust and soil flying upwards from the impact.   
  
Hayate stared at Ranma, his eyes wide. He wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed it, but he was sure that the first two punches Ranma laid on the giant wasn't just two punches, but several at such a speed that they looked like one punch each to the untrained eye. Once again, he was reminded of the fight with the Karate Club. But this was a feat much more impressive than that.   
  
Munekata stood there, ashen faced, as his fellow seniors gathered up the three unconscious ringers. It took him a while to be able to regain some measure of lucidity again. A look of venomous hatred quickly took over his face, aimed directly at Ranma, who seemed to be more concerned with Ukyou than anything else.   
  
"You've won this round, Saotome. But I'll make sure I'll be having the last laugh."   
  
Munekata turned around and stalked off the playing fields, towards the gates of the school. His Karate club hurried past him, lugging the three defeated ringers with them.   
  
Akane and Konatsu were quickly at Ukyou's side, making sure that she was okay. They laid her back against the grass gently, watching over her as she stirred back into consciousness.   
  
Silently, Hayate walked over towards the three. "That was insane... He defeated a guy of that size, and he made it look so easy." He looked back towards the fallen bodies of the Karate Club's three "ringers". "I heard he was strong, but I didn't think he was _that_ strong."   
  
"That's just Ranma for you." Akane stood up, placing a hand gently against Hayate's side. "He was raised by his father for most of his life. He’s been training in martial arts since he was six.” Her eyes were soft as Hayate turned to look at her. “So if you want to be as strong as him, you're going to need to work for it just as hard as he did."   
  
Hayate was silent for a long moment.   
  
Akane just smiled at him. "You _did_ stand up to the Karate Club, though. That was impressive enough." She looked him over for a moment. "You don't look like you were seriously hurt, at least."   
  
Hayate smirked a little bit. "Just my pride."   
  
Ukyou's eyes fluttered open, looking between the three standing above her. "What happened?" She looked between Akane and Konatsu in confusion. "Where's those thugs..." She rose up sharply, only to waver slightly, clutching her middle. "Ow..."   
  
Akane and Hayate carefully lifted Ukyou to her feet. "You'll be alright," Akane said. "Ranma and Konatsu took them down for you." She glanced towards Hayate and gave him a smile. "And Hayate helped, too."   
  
Ukyou gave Hayate a smile. "Thanks a lot, kid." She squeaked as Konatsu lifted her in her arms. "Don't just haul me up, jackass!"   
  
Konatsu nodded. "Can I at least carry you home, Ukyou-sama? You still need to recover in time for the dinner rush." Then the kunoichi looked back towards Akane and Hayate. "Thank you so much again for saving Ukyou-sama. Akane-sama, I hope you can teach Hayate-kun to be a strong warrior."   
  
Konatsu looked at Hayate, and gave him a wink, before suddenly sprinting off, leaping over the fence to the outside. Hayate watched the red streak disappear, face burning and heart aching.   
  
Ranma turned back to Hayate and Akane. "You think we've got enough time to get back to class, or should we just head straight for Club? I don't feel like doing any learning today after a fight like that..."   
  
Akane's eyebrow twitched. "Don't get so high and mighty, just because you've kicked some guy's butt..."

* * *

When Hayate returned to his classroom, he was suddenly surrounded by students and a constant barrage of questions. Hayate's eyes darted around the classroom, in search of some kind of reprieve, until they came across Sion sat against his desk.

Hayate shouted out loud, " _SANADA_ !" It was a sudden bark that stopped short the gaggle of students blocking him. As they watched in silence, Hayate moved through the crowd to walk up to Sion. "What the hell's up with _them_ ?"   
  
Sion smirked. "Dude, the playing fields are just out the window from the classroom. Your classmates got themselves a real good show." He gestured out the window, where Hayate could, as Sion said, clearly see the playing fields that he, Konatsu and Ranma had fought in. "Hell, I'm surprised you managed to last as long against that kid as you did. I guess you didn't want to disappoint your master, right?"   
  
Hayate opened his mouth to make a biting retort, only to be cut off by the sudden sound of his classmates screaming in surprise.   
  
Hayate's head whipped around to see his classmates surging up around him again, with a whole new barrage of questions being thrown at him full force. He shrank back as the storm continued, overwhelmed by the volume. He looked back towards Sion desperately, only to see the boy quickly moving away from him, leaving him swamped amongst the gaggle.   
  
It wasn't until the teacher had to scream at the top of his lungs to stop that the commotion finally died down.

* * *

Hayate stepped inside the clubhouse nervously, trying to ignore the small group of people that followed behind him in order to try and get a better glimpse of Ranma. Hoping to see the legend for themselves, Hayate thought to himself.  
  
Akane stood in the middle of the large center mat in her gi, waving Hayate over. "Hayate-kun, have you brought us some new members?"   
  
Hayate just shrugged. “They’re here to see Ranma. Didn’t say anything about joining up.” He stepped inside, leaving his sneakers behind. “I’m gonna go get changed, okay?”   
  
Akane watched Hayate disappear into the changing rooms, and then heaved a deep sigh. She looked over at Ranma, sitting by himself by the punching bag, staring out of the window. "Are you planning on just sitting there this evening? You’re going to disappoint all the people outside who came to see you."   
  
Ranma shrugged. “You’re the sensei here, Akane. Right now, I’m just the assistant.” 

Akane sighed once more. “At least do some sparring or something later, won’t you?  Maybe you could put on a show for everyone out there.”

Hayate emerged from the changing room in his red shorts and a black tank top, and made his way over to Akane. "What's up with Ranma-senpai? Ain't he usually happier about kicking someone's ass?"  
  
Akane just gave Hayate a smile. "Nothing he usually can’t handle. Just let get on with training for tonight, hmm?"   
  
Ranma watched Akane and Hayate start going through the evening's training session silently. He barely acknowledged the awed stares of his new fans as they gazed upon him as he did so. He was too busy watching Akane and the way she moved to do anything else.

Eventually, Akane turned towards Ranma. “Come on, Ranma! Don’t just sit there! Come and help me with the training!”

Ranma sat there, staring at Akane for a long while. But eventually, he rose to his feet. “Alright, already. Jeez, whatever it is can’t be that important!”

Akane smiled, despite herself. “It definitely is important, because you’re the one that has to do it!”

Ranma flushed deeply, and stepped onto the mat beside Akane, at the ready. Maybe it was time that he should take this whole thing more seriously. He was supposed to be a master of Anything Goes Martial Arts, after all…

* * *

**to be continued**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I can’t say that I haven’t been updating this story now, have I?
> 
> This chapter is pretty much the end of what I originally posted to Space Battles message board. Originally, it was two separate chapters, but now I’m starting to get used to chapters and stores that are around or more than 10k. Everything from here on out is pretty much original material.
> 
> Shoutout to uragaaru and the rest of the Ranma ½ Discord for helping me out on this. You guys helped me more with my writing than anyone else I know. And you guys are what still keep me writing.


	3. Stepping Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayate's training progresses at the Tendou Dojo, but Akane is worried about hitting a plateau with what she knows. And with Ranma more interested in everything but training Hayate, those worries are getting bigger and bigger. But what might Kasumi be planning?

It was morning at the Tendou Dojo, and fists were flying as usual.   
  
Mostly the fists were Hayate's, lashing out towards Ranma as she danced over the dojo floor, twisting her body between Hayate's blows. As Ranma moved, Hayate moved with her, striving to land a blow on her.   
  
"You're never gonna hit me if you keep swinging wild like that, you know!" Ranma said, ducking under Hayate's back-fist and diving under his arm to pop-up behind him. "I bet your punches wouldn't even hurt a fly! If you even can hit it, that is!"   
  
Hayate whirled around, extending his arm for another swipe at Ranma, but the redhead had already swerved away enough for his fist to pass harmlessly over her.   
  
Akane watched the brawl from the outside, her brow furrowing in contemplation. It had been a week since Hayate begun his training, and it felt like they were all running in circles. Hayate’s energy was improving, and he was keeping up with both of them while running to school. But she could only drill him on the basics for so long, and she knew Ranma wasn't that interested in teaching Hayate actual techniques.   
  
The worry that Hayate would get sick of just training in the dojo was starting to gnaw at Akane more and more. And while her father tried his best to make suggestions, she could see the growing discomfort on his face when the topic came up. Akane was starting to realise that her father didn't put much thought into what the joining of the schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts would entail.   
  
If Akane hadn't been living with him for so long, she would've found it funny instead of sad: that two old men would put such responsibility on somebody who had no real experience or capability for it.   
  
Hayate launched himself forward, to send his fist careening toward Ranma, only to hit the air her face occupied. Ranma leapt over his head at the last moment, planting her foot at the back of his head and shoving him forwards to slam into the wooden floor.   
  
Ranma landed a moment later, her foot barely making any noise on the floor. "Are you still thinkin' like those Karate Club losers? That's only gonna make you cannon fodder, you know." She turned around smartly and stepped through the door. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Don't wait up."   
  
Akane gazed down at Hayate slowly trying to pick himself up again. "I think sparring with Ranma isn't going to teach you much right now..." She stepped over to him, handing him a small towel. "You've still got a lot more to learn than just cardio training."   
  
Hayate sat up, toweling the sweat from his face. "Are we going to be doing more kata, then? I've been trying to get all of that down."   
  
Akane smiled, but shook her head. "Not really. We can work on kata during the week. I'm thinking of something else." She patted Hayate’s shoulder. “You should go take a bath after Ranma’s done. It’ll do you some good…”

Later on, Akane waited silently as Ranma stepped into the room, fiddling with the cords on her sweater. The TV was running unnoticed, playing a variety chat show on mute. Ranma sat at the table, running a towel over his hair, paying no attention to anything around him.   
  
Eventually, Akane looked up at Ranma. "Ranma, are you just going to spar with Hayate all the time? You know that you've got so much you can teach him."   
  
Ranma sighed deeply. "I dunno? He seems to be getting better. Even if he still can't lay a finger on me, at the very least he's getting quicker." He noticed the frown that Akane was giving him, and reddened. "I'm serious, alright?! How am I supposed to teach him anything?"   
  
"Don't you have a whole  _ arsenal _ of martial arts that you can teach?" Akane asked. "And don't think that means trying to teach him the  _ Hiryuu Shouten Ha _ right now. I know you've still got some skills that Hayate could already pick up..."   
  
Ranma scowled. "What are you talking about? You mean the  _ Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken _ ? That took me ages to figure out..."   
  
Akane shook her head, feeling her frustration spike up. "I'm not talking about  _ that _ ! Remember back when you fought Kuno over those photos Nabiki took? Even back then, you were still miles ahead of anyone I knew who did martial arts in school. Can't you pass on any of that skill to Hayate?"   
  
Ranma blinked. "Way back then?" He paused, searching through his memories, rolling all the way back to that day. "I dunno if I can just *teach* Hayate to be like that. That's just from the training my pop gave me." His expression soured even more. "I dunno if Hayate would wanna get trained like *that*."   
  
"Ranma..." Akane stared at Ranma, still frowning deeply. "Natural talent can only get you so far. And what I've seen you do shows a lot more than just natural talent. Can you really look back on everything you've done over the past year and change, and not find anything you could teach somebody with?"   
  
"No!" Ranma replied. "For all I care, it's all instinct and quick thinking. Most of the time, I was just fighting to survive, or just get through the day with everything intact. I don't like to look back on my day and figure out what I did wrong or right! I just was glad it was all over and I could relax for once!"   
  
Akane stared at Ranma, stone silent. "So is that all you can think of? Nothing but sparring with Hayate and hoping he gets it?"   
  
"It's the best I can do!" Ranma replied. "You wanna teach the kid how to fight? You figure it out!" He grabbed an old manga and laid back on the floor, deliberately hiding his face from Akane's gaze.   
  
Akane sighed deeply. So this was how it was? Ranma was a great martial artist, but he didn't seem to know, or even care about how it all works. Was that the effect of Genma's training? That he got the practicals down to an art form, but had next to no idea to communicate it? And that was discounting the possibility in the back of Akane’s mind that he was paranoid that Hayate would surpass him if he taught him too well, puncturing his pride as a martial artist.   
  
Meanwhile, Akane could pretty much understand everything about how all those crazy techniques worked. She kind of understood the  _ Bakusai Tenketsu _ , from what she saw of Ryouga doing it. She definitely understood the  _ Hiryuu Shouten Ha _ and the  _ Mokou Takabisha _ . Everything that made those things worked, Akane mostly understood, but never bothered to put into personal practice. Not yet, anyway; she didn't think she had the ability to instantly grasp a technique that Ranma could.   
  
What Hayate wanted was to be stronger, so that people didn't push him around, that much she understood. Sometimes, Akane felt the same way; to be able to beat Shampoo in a fight, to not be treated like a prize or some kind of bargaining chip, to not be constantly condescended to or insulted all the time. Akane couldn't help but crave the spotlight that she wanted, that she thought she deserved, and she didn't want it hanging off of Ranma's arm, like so many people around her.   
  
Akane kept staring at Ranma, trying to will her gaze through the manga he was hiding behind. Briefly, Ranma peeked out from behind the manga, and noticed her gaze. He flushed slightly, and quickly hid his face once more.

* * *

 

"So you just wanna watch us spar some more?" Ranma stood opposite Hayate on the dojo floor, stretching and working his limbs, getting ready for the fight. "Why? How is this gonna help Hayate improve?"   
  
Hayate cracked his knuckles, glaring at Ranma. "Way to show some confidence in my abilities,  _ sensei _ ."   
  
Ranma looked back at Hayate out of the side of his eye. "Only tryin' to help, ya know..."   
  
Akane sat against the wall of the dojo, legs crossed. "I want to see how both of you fight. Since Hayate has been doing nothing but sparring and basic kata, and Ranma can't be bothered to figure out how he's able to fight as good as he does, let alone do it, I'm going to have to see for myself." Her eyes moved from willing student to reluctant master. "I'll be acting as judge, so I expect to see you try your best..."   
  
Hayate swallowed hard as Akane looked pointedly at him. This wasn't what he usually expected out of the usual sparring sessions...   
  
Akane got to her feet, arms folded. "Are you both ready, then?" She looked between the two in front of her briefly, before calling out, "begin!"   
  
Once again, Hayate dashed forward, yelling loud enough to rattle the hardwood planks under his feet. He swung his fists out to try and tag Ranma, but no matter how fast, or how hard he swung, he couldn't touch him.   
  
It wasn't that Hayate wasn't punching or moving slow; he was pretty sure he was getting faster, and hitting harder. But against Ranma, he could have been swinging fists of lead for all it mattered. Trying to hit Ranma was like trying to hit the wind as it blew around, or trying to hit a waterfall.   
  
Ranma flowed around Hayate's punches, sometimes close enough that Hayate could probably feel his clothes brushing against those hands. He was right: he could tell the kid was getting better. Even with all the losses he racked up during sparring, he was improving little by little.   
  
Akane watched the fight, her eyes darting around to follow the movements of two bodies, Ranma's passive defence seemingly complimenting Hayate's sheer, uncontrolled aggression. It was hard to watch it, and not be reminded of all the times that she sparred with Ranma. For all the times she managed to smack him one during their time together, when Ranma, or someone else would provoke her, she felt like she could teach him a lesson. But in the Dojo, it was like Ranma was completely different. In the dojo, or the fighting ring, Ranma was almost untouchable.   
  
Akane felt a pang of jealousy sometimes, when she watched Ranma battle Ryouga, Kuno, or Mousse, or any of the other martial arts masters that came and went. Especially Ryouga, who rarely was able to win a fight with Ranma, still at least could give him a run for his money.   
  
Akane raised her hand up. "Okay, that's enough." She quickly went over to Hayate. "You're doing that thing again, overextending yourself." She poked him in the chest. "The only reason why you're not on the floor right now is because Ranma isn't bothering to try and strike back."   
  
"Well, maybe I wouldn't be..." Hayate paused to remember, " _ overextending _ myself if I can actually friggin'  _ hit  _ him..."   
  
Akane grimaced. "Hayate-kun, that's not how it works. Trying to finish a fight in only one hit works when you're sure that hit would connect. Otherwise, you're just going to get taken advantage of on the first mistake you make." She stepped back once more. "Alright, try again."   
  
Hayate nodded, and turned to face Ranma once more. Once again, Hayate charged forward, and tried to hit Ranma. He tried his best, but Akane could tell that Hayate was simply just pulling his punches. So once again, Hayate could barely touch Ranma.   
  
Akane stepped in once more, and pulled Hayate aside. "You don't actually have to pull your punches, you know." She let go of his shirt. "You just have to think about what happens when you miss."   
  
"You mean  _ if  _ I miss?" Hayate asked.   
  
Akane just shook her head. "Not if,  _ when _ . Especially with the way you're fighting now." She patted his arm gently. "Look, at least try and visualise it, why don't you? When Ranma moves away, think about when he would be trying to strike, or where he would be moving to."   
  
"You mean I have to guess what he might be thinking?" Hayate asked dryly.   
  
"It's the fundamental nature of combat," Akane said. "Just get out there and try and score a hit!"   
  
Ranma crept closer, tilting his head. "She's got a point, y'know. Remember Bleachy-Buzzcut last week? He managed to get you good, because he just needed to find an opening."   
  
Hayate scowled at Ranma, as the memories came flooding back. "You mean you saw that?"   
  
"It wasn't exactly hard," Akane said, "we just managed to get there when you were fighting him." She gave him a look of reassurance. "That kid looked dangerous, though. Ranma thought he was going to knock you out in seconds, and he was surprised you lasted as long as you did..."   
  
Ranma made a face. "If 'Natsu weren't there to take him out, he coulda gotten him under a minute..." He trailed off as he noticed the twin looks that the others were giving him, and clamped his lips shut.   
  
"So," Hayate began once more, "what am I supposed to do? Just stand around and wait for the first move?"   
  
"You can just bait it out of him, if you think you can do it." Ranma said quickly. "It's not that hard to find an opening if you know what it'd look like. You need to get 'em when they're least able to react, right?"   
  
"And what I was doing back there?" Hayate asked.   
  
"Ranma didn't strike back because he knew he could knock you flat at any time..." Akane said. "I think that's just something he likes to do. He likes treating his opponents like toys to play with." She looked aside at Ranma, who gave her a sour look. Then she looked back at Hayate. "Keep sparring for now. I want to see if you've learned anything from this conversation.   
  
The sparring would continue throughout the day; by the time that Ranma decided he wanted a break, the sun was on its way down, and both of them were soaked in sweat. In fact, so much sweat had been shed that the dojo floor was getting slippery. As the two left for a bath, Akane decided to stay behind. One reason, of course, was to mop the floor, and clean off all the sweat.   
  
But the other was to consider the way the day had gone. The training session sure felt better than what she had been through the past couple of days. Now Ranma and Hayate had a reason to spar other than just exercising, with Ranma's experience being the perfect partner to Akane's teaching. Ranma didn't have to be bothered by the idea of Hayate fighting Akane, since he was the one doing all the sparring. And Hayate could learn from Ranma without him having to try and do actual teaching.   
  
Now all that Akane needed was something for Hayate to learn from other than just sparring with Ranma. Maybe there was something among all the junk kept away that could be put to use…

* * *

 

The next morning, after Ranma had his morning spar with Genma, he was somewhat surprised, to say the least, to see Hayate beating on an old straw mannequin. He couldn’t help but notice the little straw pigtail swinging back and forth from behind the mannequin’s head, even before seeing that it was wearing one of his old red Chinese shirts. The sight made Ranma cringe slightly; Akane was never any good at capturing his unique qualities, especially in straw.

That morning Akane had told him, "If you're going to do nothing but goof off and spar with Hayate, then you might as well leave us and go somewhere else. I'm sure there's plenty of other people you can bother for a fight!"   
  
The problem for Ranma, though, was that wasn't exactly true. Most of the other martial artists he knew hardly presented a challenge to him. Munekata swore to beat him one day, but he was pretty sure that day was still a long way off. Mousse was a cakewalk, and he was getting less and less inclined to be anywhere in Shampoo's vicinity by the day.   
  
Ryouga came and went, and at that moment, he mostly went. And with Akari and her farm, Ryouga had even less reason to be at the Tendou Dojo. It was a shame, too. Ryouga was one of the few people who even presented a challenge.   
  
And Ranma didn't like the idea of going out and just hunting down people looking for a fight. Most of the people he fought came to him, and there was the chance that he'd end up stumbling across some weird-ass martial artist with some ridiculous technique that would result in too much bother, with too little satisfaction.   
  
So sure, the idea of being the Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts appealed to him: the idea of being on top of your game, of reaching the pinnacle of the fighting arts. But the idea of passing on his skills, and actually teaching people felt like being shut up and caged in.  
  
Was this the same thing that his old man felt? Was this what made him take Ranma and roam everywhere in the name of martial arts?

Over by the wall, Akane was straining to lift a large wooden support beam. And as far as Ranma knew, neither she nor Hayate had noticed that he was standing right behind their backs. 

Ranma quietly manoeuvred past Hayate, who was too absorbed in beating on his fake straw Ranma, and approached Akane from behind as she heaved the beam into upright position. As she stepped back to get a better look at the beam, Ranma stood still, trying to will himself to be as unobtrusive as possible.   
  
Sure enough, Akane stepped far back enough that she practically brushed against him. At that moment, Ranma moved his hands down on Akane's waist, and then dug his fingers into her sides.   
  
The next second was expected: Akane shrieked at an ear-piercing pitch, almost jumping two feet in the air.   
  
But the second after than actually wasn't: Hayate's knee slammed into Ranma's side at shocking speed. Ranma stumbled forward, gasping for air that Hayate had knocked out of him. He was stunned long enough for Akane to grab him by the sides of his head, and quickly slam his body into the dirt in front of them, back-first.   
  
Ranma lay there after a moment, the pain slowly dulling as Akane and Hayate stared down at him in shocked silence.   
  
"What the hell, dude?!" Hayate blurted out. "I could've killed you with that knee!"   
  
Ranma scowled up at Hayate. "Killed me? Seriously?" Ranma pushed himself up from the ground, quickly rising to his feet again like a falling domino played in reverse. "You sure have an inflated opinion of yourself."   
  
Akane's face was bright red with fury. "I can't believe you would just sneak up on me like that! You're just lucky that I didn't take you down myself!"   
  
Ranma's scowl turned more indignant. "What? I thought that you would know that martial artists should be ready for any attack!"   
  
Hayate just snorted. "Yeah, fat lot of good that did ya..."   
  
"You stay out of this!" Ranma and Akane shouted together.   
  
Hayate quickly squeezed his lips together down into a thin line, and turned away from the arguing pair, stalking back into the house. As far as he was concerned, they could just keep arguing until dinner.

* * *

 

To say that there wasn’t much bonhomie at the dinner table was an understatement. As Kasumi carried in the rice cooker, the entire table was silent and still. Ranma was pointedly looking everywhere but Akane, who just sat turned away from Ranma. Hayate just preferred to stare down at the plates of kara-age and pickles, his face completely rigid.   
Even in the middle of this oppressive atmosphere, Kasumi still managed to smile a little bit as she scooped out bowl after bowl of rice, passing them around the table. "Has the training been going well, Akane-chan? I think Hayate has been improving a little bit! You must be a natural sensei..."   
  
Akane looked over towards Ranma for a moment, but Ranma only scowled and turned away. She just sighed, and turned back towards Kasumi. "Thanks, Sis. I think Hayate would agree, too."   
  
Hayate didn’t even look up from the table, even as he was handed his bowl of rice, which rose upwards a significant amount and was covered in shredded kombu.   
  
Then Kasumi turned to look at Ranma. "Ranma-kun?"   
  
Ranma didn't respond.   
  
Kasumi's look turned into a stare. "Ranma-kun?"   
  
Ranma twitched as Hayate and Akane also fixed their gazes at him. Even with the pressure mounting on him, however, he was still silent.   
  
"Don't mind him, Kasumi-san." Hayate said. "He's just acting pissy because Sensei booted him out of the training sessions..." He paused as Ranma fixed him with an ice-cold glare.   
  
Kasumi tilted her head to the side. "Is that true, Ranma?" She asked in a soft voice.   
  
Ranma's glare faded, and he looked down at his knees again.   
  
Akane, noticing Ranma's silence, just sighed. "It's true, Sis. Ranma was doing nothing to try and teach anything to Hayate-kun..."   
  
"Throw me under the bus, why don't you?" Ranma said suddenly, cutting Akane off. "After the two of you beat me up like that..."   
  
"Oh yeah?" Akane turned to snarl at Ranma. "You mean after you snuck up behind me and  _ jabbed me in the sides _ like that?! In the middle of a lesson, too!"   
  
Ranma's face creased up in anger. "I can't believe you're still whining about that! I told you that good martial artists should be ready for attack from anywhere, at any time?"   
  
"By attacking me in the middle of a lesson?" Akane's cheeks started to turn red. "How is that supposed to teach Hayate-kun anything?"   
  
"Hey, it taught me a lot! My dad taught it me all the time!"   
  
"Your dad?  _ Your dad? _ The same man who sold you into three different marriages?! Who tossed you into a pit of starving cats?"   
  
"Hey, it's not like your basic-ass lessons are going to help him any, either!"   
  
Everyone around them sat in silence as Akane and Ranma descended into another heated shouting match. Soun and Genma watched the bickering couple, looking to try and step in as soon as they could find an opportunity. Kasumi tended to the food on the table, but stole the occasional concerned glance.

Hayate, scowling deeply, just grabbed several pieces of kara-age from the plate, jamming them into his mouth, followed by several mouthfuls of rice. Within the space of a minute, he managed to work through his entire bowl of rice and kombu, before slamming in down on the table top.

Ranma and Akane jerked, and turned to look at Hayate as one. All anger seemed to drain away with the shock, leaving them both dumbfounded. Kasumi was looking at Hayate as well, but her eyes were more concerned than surprised.

“Thanks for the meal,” Hayate said, the words grinding out from between clenched teeth. By the time anyone could react, he quickly got to his feet, and stalked out of the room.

Kasumi blinked as Hayate stalked down, and turned to the table. “Excuse me for a minute. Carry on without me!” And then she quickly got to her feet and dashed out of the living room with surprising speed.

Hayate just about managed to get to the entryway before Kasumi suddenly swept past him, to stand practically nose to nose.   
  
"Hayate-kun?" Kasumi asked quietly. "Would you like to come with me for a moment?"   


Hayate stood there silently, staring at Kasumi. After a moment, Kasumi turned around and slipped into her wooden sandals and started walking, out of the front gate and into the street. Moments later, Hayate stepped into his trainers and followed her out through the yard, and into the street.

Everything was silent as the two walked down the empty street, under the cloudless night. A cool breeze blew past them as they walked, rustling the trees that hung over their heads.   
  
After they got a reasonable distance, Kasumi suddenly spoke up. "Hayate-kun? Do you enjoy learning martial arts?"   
  
Hayate thought the question over for a moment. "Well, yeah..." He turned it around in his head for another moment. "I mean, Akane-sensei has been really nice to me, and she's taught me a lot..."   
  
Kasumi smiled wanly. "Of course. But do you enjoy learning martial arts in general?"   
  
Hayate grinned a little bit. "I've been trying to learn a lot. My middle school in Sendai had an MMA club, and I learned a bit from those guys, too. Plus a little from the Boxing club, after the MMA club got broke up by the faculty..." Then the grin quickly faded. "Why do you ask?"   
  
"Because I'm surprised that you've managed to stay with us for this long." Kasumi worried at her plait with her fingers. "In fact, I think you might be the longest lasting student we've had since our mother died..."   
  
Hayate blinked, somewhat surprised at Kasumi's words. "Really? Me? What happened to the others?"   
  
Kasumi's smile became slightly strained. "Most of the students Father tried to take on couldn't last more than a day. Sometimes they'd lose patience with Father, or something strange would come up and scare them off. And that's if Happosai wasn't around, too."   
  
"Happosai?" Hayate asked.   
  
Kasumi looked away nervously. "He's... the grandmaster of our schools. He taught Father, along with Ranma's own father." The smile had slipped from her face completely, now. "You've might've seen him if you live around here: a little old man who carries a bag of underwear on his back..."   
  
Hayate's brow furrowed. "Think I heard Mom mention him sometime ago..."   
  
Kasumi just nodded silently. The silence hung in the air between them.   
  
"Do you think I should quit?" Hayate asked, scratching at the back of his head nervously. "Everyone's been telling me that I've been improving, but I sure as hell don't feel like it. And sometimes I can't take having to listen to those two fight all the time..."   
  
Kasumi nodded. "Well, it's always been like that between them. They've been fighting each other ever since they met." She paused for a moment, lowering her eyes. "Though I have to admit, it is kind of frustrating just watching them bicker all the time. They're supposed to be getting ready to take over the schools, after all."   
  
Hayate just sighed. "Well, it's nice to know that we can agree on something."   
  
Kasumi just giggled softly, and continued down the street, Hayate following behind her. "So I suppose that you're not going to quit training at our Dojo, then? Akane-chan would be sad if she ended up losing her first student."   
  
Hayate just smirked a little bit. "Yeah, I wouldn't think it would be fair on her. Especially because I know Ranma wouldn't leave her alone about it."   
  
Kasumi nodded, smiling. "Thank you, Hayate-kun." She reached down and took Hayate's hand gently. "I'll be supporting you as well, any way I can."   
  
Hayate grinned at Kasumi, trying to ignore the blush rising in his cheeks. "Thanks, Kasumi-san.”

* * *

 

"Akane-chan?" Kasumi turned from the sink full of dishes. "Is it alright if I speak to you for a moment?"   
  
Akane blinked in surprise. "Sure thing, sis... What is it?"   
  
Kasumi wiped her hands on a towel. "It's about Hayate-kun's training..."   
  
Akane blinked once more. A slight twinge of fear ran through her. "Does he want to stop?" She asked in a soft voice.   
  
"Of course not," Kasumi replied. "He's perfectly fine with the training. What I'm worried about is you and Ranma-kun."   
  
"Oh," Akane said. "I don't know if I can help with that one. I've tried talking with Ranma, and you know how it is..." She flexed her fingers, clenching them. "He just doesn't want to listen to sense, he just wants to do what he wants to do. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks Hayate-kun is actually a student, or some kind of rival in the making..."   
  
"Rival?" Kasumi blinked owlishly. "Rival for what?"   
  
"Rival in martial arts," Akane replied. "Though, knowing Ranma, he might think he’s a rival for me."   
  
For a moment, the kitchen was completely silent. And then Kasumi burst into giggles. A second later, Akane was giggling along.   
  
"I didn't think it would be this simple you know," Akane said, after her giggles died out. "Being a teacher. After being a student for so long, I thought that I still had far to go." She looked away from Kasumi, not wanting to look at her sister’s face. "I'm barely in my second year, and now I'm teaching martial arts like it was the most natural thing on Earth."   
  
"Well, sometimes one can still surprise oneself," Kasumi replied. "Even when you think you've known all about yourself, there's still something that pops up out of nowhere."   
  
Akane just nodded. "I suppose that's what everyone else thinks. I know Dad taught me well, but he doesn't seem to think of me as anything else than being Ranma's fiancée. And Ranma..."   
  
"Ranma still has a lot to learn, too" Kasumi said. "In more ways than one…”   
  
Akane looked at Kasumi in surprise. But as her older sister left, she realised that she might have had a point.

* * *

 

The next morning, Akane was rather surprised to see Kasumi tending to a charcoal burner in the yard by the dojo, on top of which sat a large steel wok. The charcoal burner wasn’t the surprise, so much as the wok; she wasn’t sure that they had a wok that size in the house.

Sitting next to the burner was a large plastic bucket, full of sand. That only raised more questions for Akane.

“Sis…” Akane said hesitantly. “What is this?”

Kasumi looked up at Akane, and smiled. “Akane-chan! You’re all ready for school?”

Akane nodded. “Yes… but…” She motioned towards the charcoal burner.

“This is just something for Hayate-kun’s training,” Kasumi said, fanning the burgeoning flame in the burner. “You said that he wasn’t going to get anywhere just sparring with Ranma, so I thought I’d find a way that I could help.”

“With a steel wok?” Akane asked.

Kasumi nodded, wafting the smoke away. “I think it’ll be ready by the time you get back from school…”

Akane stared at Kasumi as she tended to the fire, but eventually turned away. There probably wasn’t much time to keep asking questions, not when school was about to start.

* * *

 

Hayate stretched out as the last class of the day finally ended. Thankfully, he wasn’t on cleaning duty, so he was pretty much free as a bird for the day… Well, only mostly so. And he was just relieved to be out of the classroom.

It wasn’t that long ago that Hayate would’ve wanted classes to go on as long as they liked, and he would’ve taken every opportunity to do cleaning duty. The longer and more responsibilities he had, the more time he had before he had to go to the Karate Club.

But now that the Karate Club was gone, and he was now a member of the Anything Goes Martial Arts Club, everything was switched around. Now classes seemed to drag on and on, and he was just counting the minutes before he could head to the clubhouse, or the Tendou Dojo. It was funny how everything changed so quickly.

Hayate quickly rose from his seat, only to notice Konatsu standing right beside his desk. It was kind of a surprise, considering that the kunoichi was in her seat when he looked back seconds before, gazing out of the window with a dreamy look on her face.

“H-hey, Konatsu-san…” Hayate pasted on a shaky grin that made his face look like a slab of pavement that was dented by a bowling ball. “What’s up? How’s Ukyou doing?”

“She’s been resting at home,” Konatsu replied, a smile on her face. “Thank you for helping to save her last week, by the way. She appreciates you standing up for her.”

“Yeah,” Hayate replied, his smile fading quickly. “For all of the good that did me.” But then he noticed that the smile didn’t fade from Konatsu’s face, and perked up. “I guess even if I didn’t have a chance, I still needed to make some kind of stand. I didn’t want to leave her out there alone.”

Konatsu nodded. “I know… But…” She poked her index fingers together, looking down at her shoes. “Ucchan’s is still going to be closed, but Ukyou-sama is eager to get back to opening soon. I think all of this sitting still is making her very anxious.”

“What,” Hayate asked, “like you think you’re going to go home and find her mixing batter or something?”

Konatsu nodded nervously. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened. Okonomiyaki is one of the most important things in her life, besides…” She paused, leaving the sentence hanging. “She told me that I shouldn’t hurry back tonight…” She looked up at Hayate’s face. “Are you going on be training at the Tendou Dojo tonight?”

Hayate quickly nodded. “Y-yeah. As always. You want to come with me?”

* * *

 

At the moment she heard the footsteps coming in through the yard, Kasumi quickly rose from the charcoal burner, a smile on her face. “Hayate-kun! Konatsu-san! You’re here just in time!” She clapped her hands together. “Everything is just about ready for you now.”

Hayate approached the charcoal burner with no small amount of trepidation. The steel wok sat on top of the flame, filled with sand. “Okay. So…” He tilted his head from side to side, looking at the pile of sand inside the wok. “What’s the big idea?”

Kasumi smiled, turning back towards the wok. “It’s a little something to help you with your martial arts training. I’ve been spending all day by this burner, helping it get ready for you.”

Hayate stepped closer to the wok, and held his hand over the hot sand. He was silent for a couple of seconds as the burning heat seared his palm, before he lifted his hand away. “That is damn hot.” He looked back at Kasumi, a skeptical look on his face. “And you said this was being heated all day?”

Kasumi nodded, moving up next to Hayate. She lifted up a hand, open out to show a pile of iron nails in the palm. “There’s about eight iron nails here.” She sprinkled the nails over the surface of the sand, and then stirred it with a stick, until they were all buried underneath. “I think you could probably get out three or four in a couple of seconds, though you might get a little burned.”

“So you want me to stick my hands in there and get them out?” Hayate asked, a skeptical tone remaining in his voice. “That sounds a little simple…”

Kasumi nodded. “It’s fine if you just pick them out one at a time, but you should be as quick as possible. Just be careful you don’t burn your hands too much, okay?” She hung the stick on the handle of the wok, and walked towards the kitchen. “I’ll be in the kitchen, making dinner!” Then she paused to look towards Konatsu. “Would you like to join me, Konatsu-san?”

Konatsu blinked, looking between Hayate and Kasumi. “Uhm…”

Hayate shrugged. “Better go with her, Konatsu-san. I think she wants me to do this alone…”

Konatsu gave Hayate a long look. “Please be careful, Hayate-kun.” She slowly turned around and walked up beside Kasumi, following her into the Tendou home.

Hayate turned towards the burning sand in front of him. Slowly, he cracked his knuckles and flexed his fingers, stepping closer to the sand. He could feel the uncertainty roiling in his stomach, along with the searing heat against his face. But even then, all those faces from back at the playing fields in Furinkan High drifted through his mind.

At that moment, Hayate wanted to place all his trust in Kasumi. And it was that trust in her that drove him to plunge his fingers into the burning sands.

Just as Hayate thought, the searing heat lashed at his hands with every plunge, and the iron nails burned as he held them between his fingers. He bit back shouts and curses as he dropped the nails back onto the surface of the sand, his fingers redded and blistered.

“Hayate-kun?” Akane’s voice came from behind him as he flexed his burned fingers. “What are you even  _ doing? _ ”

Hayate cringed, sucking on his fingers. “I’m… I’m just training…”

“Training?” Akane looked down at the nails resting on the sand, slightly marked from the heat and the sand. “That looks awfully painful for training…” She looked back up at Hayate, her eyes narrowing. “Did Ranma put you up to this?”

“Not Ranma,” Hayate replied. “Kasumi-san…”

Akane’s eyes widened. “Kasumi…?”

“She said that it would be good for my training…” Hayate said, looking down at his fingers. “She said it would hurt, too. I just didn’t think it would be this bad…”

Akane’s eyes softened. “Well, yeah... This is kinda drastic for martial arts training.” She stepped back from the burning wok. “I heard that monks in the Shaolin Temple train by punching and jabbing their hands into hot sand and gravel. Not just to endure the burning heat, but to strengthen their bones with little fractures that heal quickly and make them tougher.”

Hayate stared silently at Akane for a long moment. “You’ve read up on this, haven’t you?”

Akane’s face twisted, trying to fight down the urge to smile. “I read it in a book I borrowed from Dr. Tofu once. I think I might’ve borrowed it from Kasumi, too.” She looked down at the wok. “Well, now you know how it’s done… Would you keep going?”

Hayate followed Akane’s gaze. “...yeah. I think I’m gonna.” He flexed his reddened, burnt fingers. “Kasumi-san said I should do it as quickly as possible, so…” He turned back to the wok, and plunged his fingers back into the sand.

“Be careful you don’t get seriously burnt then, Hayate-kun…” Akane said.

* * *

In the kitchen, Ranma leaned against the doorjamb as he watched Kasumi and Konatsu bustle around the kitchen. Behind them, he could see Hayate stabbing his hands into the burning hot wok, cringing in pain, Akane watching intently.

“So let me get this straight,” he said slowly, “ _ you _ , of all people, figured out a way to teach that kid the  _ Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken _ ?”

Kasumi nodded, not even looking away from the cabbage under her knife.

Ranma’s face twisted into a scowl. “Okay, I’ve heard some real weird stories in my time here, but this has to take the cake…”

Kasumi didn’t say anything. She just kept chopping the cabbage.

Ranma’s scowl deepened. “Are you even listening to me?”

Konatsu turned to give Ranma a disapproving look. “Ranma-sama, you should calm down. Kasumi-sama just wanted to help her sister, that’s all.” She placed the tray full of breaded tonkatsu next to the stove and stepped up to Ranma, wiping her hands with a cloth. “Akane-sama has been worrying about Hayate-kun’s training, and the way you’ve been acting around him, so Kasumi-sama figured that she could step in and help.”

“Yeah, and I bet that’s why Kasumi has been avoiding me all day.” Ranma folded his arms. “She never used to do that before. But ever since that punk started coming here--”

“Ranma-kun,” Kasumi said, putting down her knife and turning around to look at Ranma. “Do you really have a problem with Hayate-kun being here?”

Ranma froze, his scowl quickly melting off his face.

Kasumi stared at Ranma silently for a long moment. And when no answer came, she heaved a deep sigh.

“I’ve never seen Akane-chan so happy after she started teaching martial arts to Hayate-kun.” Kasumi stepped closer to Ranma, hands folded in front of her. “Happier than I have ever seen her. But every time I see you, you seem to be so upset about what she’s doing, or needling Hayate or…”

“Okay, wait just a second here,” Ranma said hotly. “I never wanted Akane to bring that kid home. I don’t care what he does, I just don’t want him hanging around here, and having Akane being so nice to him…” He trailed off slowly, as a wave of realisation washed over him. “...and spending all her time with him…”

Kasumi’s face fell. “Ranma-kun… I’m pretty sure that Hayate-kun doesn’t think of Akane-chan in that way.”

“At least, not as much as he’d think of most girls,” Konatsu said helpfully. “He does seem to be reaching that age, after all.”

Ranma gave Konatsu a funny look. “And you’re trying to tell me that he’s  _ not _ sweet on Akane?”

Konatsu’s face turned sour, and she stepped back.

Kasumi gave Konatsu a reassuring smile, before turning to Ranma. “If you’re worried about Hayate-kun, why don’t you talk to him yourself? Try to open up to him. It’s not like he’s going to vow to kill you at this rate, is he?”

Ranma just scowled at Kasumi. “Yeah, I think he’s getting pretty close, though…”

But several minutes later, Ranma stepped out into the yard. Hayate was still plunging his hands into the hot sand, his teeth bared and gritted tight. Around him, crackles and sparks of flame drifted around him, rising into the skies above.

Ranma watched silently, trying to ignore the weight in his belly. He could see Akane standing beside him, her face illuminated by the flames, her eyes glittering with red and orange light. And the sight make something squeeze down on his heart like a large iron fist.

After a moment, Akane turned to look at Ranma, and he felt the fist squeeze harder. For a moment, the two just looked at each other, in the darkening night.

Slowly, Ranma approached the wok, on Hayate’s other side. As he stood next to Hayate, he managed to muster up a weak “Hey.”

Hayate froze, hands raised, like someone had hit the pause button on him.

Akane was still looking at him. She didn’t say anything.

“Kasumi said I should talk with Hayate…” Ranma began, his voice cracking. He wanted to say something else, but the moment the words left his mouth, Akane turned and walked back towards the house.

Ranma could only stare at Akane as she walked off. He knew he could’ve said something, maybe, something to let her come back. But for all he knew, it would’ve just come out wrong, and she’d get upset. As always.

But now Ranma was standing alone with Hayate, who was now staring down at the wok, his scalded hands at his sides. He didn’t even look at Ranma.

Ranma swallowed hard, but the cold weight still stubbornly sat inside him. There wasn’t anything he could think of to say, now that they were alone. He cursed Kasumi to himself:  _ you said I should talk to him, but what about? You didn’t say anything about that, did you? _

“You come here to laugh at me or something?” Hayate said, shaking Ranma out of his thoughts. “You wanna watch me hurt myself, ‘cause you think it’s funny?”

“What?” Ranma said. “What makes you think that I’d find you funny? You’re getting better and better every time I fight you! Even if you still can’t touch me, you’re still learning and getting better and...!”

Hayate was still silent.

“Look, you know what Akane and me were talking about, the first night you came here?” Ranma suddenly blurted out. “She was all happy about havin’ you here, and being your teacher…”

“So you got jealous,” Hayate quickly said.

Ranma clammed up, his face turning red. “I didn’t get jealous! I’m the better fighter, I’ve done way more than she’ll ever do! And she thinks just because you don’t like me and listen to her all the time that she was better at me at being a teacher…”

Hayate didn’t say anything. And Ranma found himself being backed into a corner, because he realised how much he didn’t want to say the words that came out so easily to Akane, weeks ago.

“I... kinda told her that carrying on the dojo was supposed to be a real man’s job.” Ranma lowered his gaze, his face burning further. “And Pops and Tendou-san agreed with me, y’know?” He swallowed hard, trying to keep down the feeling of rising bile. “But when I told her that, the look on her face…”

“I heard you guys shouting from outside the gate,” Hayate replied. He turned to look at Ranma out the corner of his eye. “That’s real big talk coming from you, you know.”

Ranma’s face twisted. “Yeah, yeah. You think it’s funny, punk? Try having to walk about with a set of lavaliers nobody can’t take their freaking eyes off.”

“ _Lavaliers_?” Hayate asked.

Ranma just rolled his eyes and cupped his hands under his chest. “So maybe I was wrong about what I said to Akane. You wanna gloat over me, that’s fine…”

Hayate snorted. “I don’t gloat. What do I have to gloat about?”

Ranma didn’t answer, preferring to look down at the wok. He could see the ends of some of the iron nails, slightly burnished from the coarse sand, sticking up from beneath.

“How many of those nails are in this thing, anyways?”

“Kasumi said nine,” Hayate answered. “I’ve just managed to get out like three or four at a time. Burns like hell, though…”

Ranma stared down at the wok, his eyes focused on the hot sand. And then, all at once, his hands flashed out.

Hayate leapt back as the sand kicked up, whipped around by the sheer speed of Ranma’s hands. For a moment, everything in front of Ranma was a blur. And after that, the sands fell back down into the wok, the surface completely smooth.

Ranma gazed down at his hand, twelve iron nails gripped between the fingers. He raised an eyebrow idly as he counted the nails. “Huh,” he said, “looks like she might’ve put in more than you thought.”

Then he yelped and dropped the hot nails onto the sand once more. “Yeow! That is  _ freaking hot _ !”

Hayate stared at Ranma while he tended to his burnt hand, his eyes wide. To him, it was a matter of seconds. One second, Ranma just stood there. The next, his hand just swept into the sands, maybe repeatedly. And the next, he was standing there with the nails in his hands.

Ranma looked over at Hayate, while sucking on one of the burnt fingers. “How the hell have you been standing here all this time?! This  _ hurts _ !”

“Of course it does,” Hayate replied, his voice blank. “Martial arts is supposed to hurt.”

Ranma stopped, and stared at Hayate for a long moment.

“Hayate-kun!” Akane called out from the house. “Ranma! Dinner’s ready!”

Ranma glanced at the house for a moment, before looking back at Hayate. “Well, _ I _ ain’t gonna burn myself any longer than I need to.” He quickly turned towards the house. “Come on, let’s go get patched up. Then I can talk to Kasumi about getting rid of those iron nails for somethin’ else.”

Hayate watched Ranma head back inside silently. For a moment, all he could think about was the sheer speed of those hands, plucking the nails from the sand so casually. For him, every movement of his burnt hands was a spark of pain running through him.

It reminded him that he still had a lot to learn.

After a moment, Ranma stuck his head out the door, a scowl on his face. “Well, don’t just stand there like a dummy! Get in here before Pops eats everything!”

Slowly, Hayate walked back into the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, this chapter came out a lot more difficult than the other two. The first draft was fine, but the second draft felt like a slog. Mostly because I got really dissatisfied with certain things as I read through it, and decided to change things around.
> 
> One of them, I have to admit, is the way I write Ranma. So when I originally had the idea for this series, I sort of cribbed a version of Ranma inspired by a lot of fan works, so he kind of ended up a bit of a jerkass in general, not just in how he treats Akane. And that was how I imagined the friction between him, Akane and Hayate as the series progressed. The Ranma I was writing back then; the arrogant, smug jerk who was a great martial artist but bristled against much of everything else.
> 
> But then I got to read more fanfics with a better, more likeable Ranma, and I realised that I couldn't write that old Ranma anymore. So I ended up junking a lot of that, and Ranma is still starting off a jerk, I kind of want him to start turning around, little by little. I mean, there is a soft centre inside of Ranma anyway, so I thought it would be better to tease it out than to do whatever it was I was gonna do with the old jerk-Ranma.
> 
> As for the martial arts training technique at the end? Well, that's just my love of old martial arts movies rearing its head.
> 
> There's still more to come, of course. I just need to keep at it!


	4. Fire Dances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Nabiki's part-time job is suddenly attacked, Ranma, Akane and Hayate have to go sort it out. But it turns out that the invaders are more than just a simple gang of delinquents...

It had been going on two weeks, and Hayate was still working at the sand wok, day after day.  
  
He came to the Tendou Dojo every morning, to spar with Ranma and train for anywhere between half an hour to a couple of hours. He didn't even bother to change out of his uniform on school days. Ranma didn't care about that, he was just thankful for a morning exercise that didn't end with a dip in the koi pond.  
  
Quietly, Ranma would watch Hayate hard at work at the sand wok, plunging his hands into the hot sands. He didn't even seem to wince anymore as he endured the searing heat. Kasumi had since introduced gravel into the sand, along with more nails to pluck out, as if Hayate was actually capable of picking them all up at once.  
  
Occasionally, Ranma would try to use the wok himself, just to prove that he was capable of doing what Hayate couldn't. But every time he did, he could barely keep hold on the nails for more than a couple of seconds.

The memory of the searing pain from the intense heat of those nails between his fingers, still seemed to sting in the back of his mind. If Kasumi hadn't told him that she had came up with the idea, he would have thought it was something his father would've made him do during his childhood training.  
  
_Martial arts is supposed to hurt._ _  
_  
The words wouldn't leave Ranma's mind. Like the blistering pain of those nails hidden in the hot sand.  
  
It was the most ridiculous statement on the face of it. Of course martial arts is supposed to hurt. But something about those words seemed to poke and prod at Ranma ever since. And the worst thing was, he wasn't sure what.  
  
But before Ranma could try and ponder the question any longer, Nabiki came up to him with a particularly aggravating smirk on her face.  
  
"Well, well, well. Haven't we been all antsy today?"  
  
Ranma turned his head to glare at Nabiki, from the stone lantern he was currently perched on top of like some oversized bird. Just across from the lantern was the dojo, where Hayate was currently having a spar with Akane, her giving her student some pointers as she blocked his blows with padded punching mitts.  
  
"What, me? Don't kid yourself." He turned around to sit on the lantern, draping his legs over the top. "I don't like to spend all day laying about the house, unlike some people here I know..."  
  
"Did you embarrass yourself in front of Akane again?" Nabiki asked, folding her arms.  
  
Ranma's brow creased. " _No._ And even if I did, why would _you_ care?"  
  
Nabiki just glowered at Ranma. "What? I can't show concern for my sister now?"  
  
"I ain't done nothin' to her, and you _know_ it!"  
  
Nabiki just smirked. "I guessed so. If you did, you would've ended up with a black eye." The smirk widened as Ranma's brow creased further. "You can at least tell me what's eating you right now..."  
  
"Yeah, right. Like I want to say _anything_ in front of you."  
  
Nabiki just snorted. "Then maybe you could say it to Akane?"  
  
Ranma bristled, and glared at Nabiki. "You really wanna know?"  
  
Nabiki didn't answer. She just tilted her head towards Ranma, as if she was turning to listen to him better.  
  
Ranma's glare faltered, and he averted his gaze. "Feels like there's nothing goin' on around here. Akane's got her thing with Hayate, and it ain't no fun sparring with him any more since she went off on me like that. Kasumi's got her housework and cooking to do. An' then there's..." He paused, deliberating on what to say. "...whatever the hell it is that _you_ do every night..."  
  
Nabiki just shook her head, laughing lightly. "What I do late at night is paying me through university. And it's a _hell_ of a lot more respectable than going around beating people up."  
  
Ranma's scowl deepened. "Yeah, well, I got nobody to beat up right now. At least nobody that's any fun. Everyone that's challenging me right now I could stomp flat, and anyone who'd pose a challenge has got their own things. Either that, or they want nothin' to do with me."  
  
Nabiki just shrugged. "You know, you could just branch out. There's more to life than just doing martial arts, you know. Haven't you got any other hobbies you could do? Like..." She pondered for a moment. "Like pro wrestling?"  
  
Ranma just snorted. "Ain't that all fake? I could probably kick all their butts with one hand tied behind my..."  
  
"I meant _watching_ wrestling, you moron." Nabiki heaved a sigh. "What about MMA? Boxing? _Any_ kind of sports? Movies? Anime? Model Gundams?"  
  
Ranma stared at Nabiki for a long while. Then he slid off of the lantern, onto his feet. "I'll think about it, okay?" He quickly turned round, heading back inside. "But I ain't holding out for anythin' to come fallin' out of the sky."  
  
But when Ranma stalked into the living room, he wasn't entirely happy to see a strange young man sitting at the dining table, grinning at him in a particularly offputting manner. The grin didn't seem to go away, even when Ranma just stared at him for a few minutes, which suggested that grin was just the boy's default expression.  
  
"Are you here for Pops?" Ranma asked. "'cause he might not be here. Or if you're looking for a challenge, you're gonna have to wait. My fiancee's in the dojo doin' some teachin' stuff, so..."  
  
"Yeah, I kind of gathered that," the strange boy replied. "Her student is my classmate, after all."  
  
Ranma deflated, dropping out of defensive mode. At least he doesn't have to deal with the usual kind of crap he got from random jerks popping up out of nowhere. "So what're you doing here?" He paused, and scanned the living room. "Don't tell me you've brought anyone else here..."  
  
The boy just shrugged. "Oh no, nothing of the sort. My name is Sion P. Sanada." He slid back, quickly getting to his feet. "First year, Class C, like your boy Ichimonji-kun over in the Tendou Dojo. Though that's just my side gig to my normal line of work."  
  
Ranma just blinked. "Normal line of work? Going to school is just a _side gig_ to you?" He blinked again. "Wait, is Sion your family name or..."  
  
"It's my first name, _of course_ !" Sion said, pronouncing "of course" in English with a flourish. "With the nations of the world becoming more and more connected, it pays to learn to speak the lingua franca, right? And for me, the most important thing is life is to be _prudent_ !"  
  
" _Puru-den-tou?_ " Ranma sounded out in confusion. He was starting to feel a strange sort of headache coming on the more he listened to this guy's prattle. "Look, I don't know how _purudentou_ that you are..."  
  
"You don't have to doubt me," Sion cut in. "After all, _prudent_ is my middle name! What do you think the P is there for?"  
  
Ranma was lost for words. Instead, he slowly turned around, and walked out into the hallway. It was either that, or risk losing brain cells at the hands of that crazy loon in the living room that was still grinning at him.  
  
As he passed the stairs, he saw Nabiki quickly swan down, a large purse tucked under her arm. "Tell Daddy I'm heading out for tonight. Going to earn my keep for the night." She looked back at Ranma, her eyebrow quirking. "Maybe you could come talk to me if you're in need of any cash yourself..."  
  
Ranma just grimaced. "I'll pass." Then he put on an extra burst of speed, down the hallway towards the Dojo. Between Nabiki and other assorted weirdos hanging around the house, he would rather spend time with Akane and Hayate.

* * *

As the sun went down, and the sky turned to night, Hayate roamed the streets around Furinkan. Every so often he would stop and stare down at his hands, wrapped up in cloth bandages up to the fingers, and down past the wrist and along the forearm. It still hurt, and he was sure there were scars forming from the scratched and blistered skin.  
  
_Martial arts is supposed to hurt._ _  
_  
He couldn't get the look on Ranma's face out of his mind when he said that. It seemed to keep coming up, every time he looking down at his bandaged hands. Like he was surprised that such a statement came out of his mouth.  
  
_Of course_ martial arts was supposed to hurt. That was the whole point, wasn't it?  
  
He would ruminate further on that, if not for the strange feeling that started to rise; a feeling of being watched.  
  
Hayate turned around to see Sion P. Sanada standing right behind him, grinning like the cat who ate the canary. The kind of grin that he would've want to wipe off with as much force as he could possibly muster.  
  
But Hayate clamped down on that desire as hard as he could. He was in public, and as far as he knew, the guy didn't look like he was any good in a fight. Don't pick fights with the weak, his mother always told him; they usually don't deserve it. And even if they did, the end result was usually never worth the exertion.  
  
So instead, Hayate just glared hard at Sion. "Why are you following me?"  
  
"Why are you acting like such a prickly pear all the time?" Sion asked, his grin edging down toward a smirk. "You should be thankful I got you so much attention after your little battle at school..."  
  
"How can I be thankful?" Hayate said through gritted teeth. "I'm trying to stay out of class because I got half the student body breathing down my neck all the time. And my teachers are looking at me like I'm going to go on some kind of rampage or something. That's not the kind of attention I want in my life."  
  
"I'm pretty sure you like some of the attention you're getting," Sion replied, "especially from that cute girl with glasses in our class..."  
  
Hayate felt all the blood rush to his head. "What did you say?"  
  
Sion's smile quickly rocketed over to the smug side of the scale. "What's wrong? Didn't think I noticed you mooning after her?"  
  
Hayate stepped forward, pressing his nose up against Sion's. "If you think you're gonna intimidate me, pal, you got another thing coming. And if you say anything about Konatsu-san again..."  
  
"You shouldn't jump to such conclusions, Ichimonji-kun!" Sion said quickly. "Whatever intentions you think I might want to do with you or Konatsu-san are purely innocent..." He squawked as Hayate leaned forward, pushing all of his weight on him and forcing him back. "Hey, you're going to make me fall over! This isn't going to make you more popular with the girls, let me tell you!"  
  
"If you don't want any trouble, then _leave me alone_ ." Hayate said, leaning back on his heels. "I don't want what twisted ideas of popularity you got, and I'll be _damned_ if I'm going to let anyone latch onto me!"  
  
With that, Hayate turned on his heel to walk down the street. Unfortunately for him, he saw that Nabiki was standing there, right behind him. Her face was stained with blood running down her forehead, just like her hands. Her short green dress was frayed and torn, and she was barefoot.  
  
"Hey, Hayate-kun?" Nabiki said, a shaky smile on her face. "Could you help me get home? I think I've run into a little bit of trouble at work..."

* * *

Kasumi perked up as she heard the front door of the Tendou home open, and the sound of people stepping into the entryway. She quickly turned down the burners on the stove, setting the miso soup for the night's dinner to a simmer, and quickly dashed over to the entryway, wiping her hands on her apron.  
  
"Welcome back! You're home early..."  
  
Kasumi trailed off as she saw the sight of Hayate standing in the entryway, his arm around Nabiki's waist. And then she looked at the blood-covered face of her sister which, despite it all, still gave her a smile.  
  
"It's not as bad as it looks, sis. Trust me."  
  
Kasumi wordlessly turned around, and went back down the hallway, in search of the first-aid kit. Hayate and Sion just exchanged a glance, before they led Nabiki to the living room.  
  
It didn't take long for Nabiki to be cleaned and patched up. Nabiki's head wound was covered with a plaster and her hands wrapped in gauze, as there were too many cuts for plasters alone. Nabiki just smiled and took Hayate's hand in her own, intertwining her fingers with his. "See? We match now!"  
  
Kasumi wasn't smiling, however. She was looking at Nabiki with a grave expression on her face. "What happened, Nabiki? I thought you said your job wasn't at all dangerous!"  
  
"Yeah, you'd be right about that," Nabiki said, "'cept some punks decided to bust in on our place and start tearing things up. Probably would've tried to hurt the others there, too, if I didn't get in the way."  
  
Hayate stared at Nabiki. "What kind of line of work are you in?"  
  
"One where people usually don't try to use whiskey bottles like weapons?" Nabiki replied. "Those punks have no idea how much those things cost!"  
  
"Maybe we should start at the beginning, then?" Sion asked. "Get the full story?"  
  
Hayate nodded. "And maybe we should move somewhere else before someone else sees you like..."  
  
"Before someone sees her like _what_ , Ichimonji-kun?"  
  
Hayate and Sion stiffened, and slowly turned around to see Soun Tendou standing in the living room doorway, his face cast in shadow. For some reason, he seemed to loom over the living room table like some great stone statue.  
  
"Tendou-san!" Sion blurted out, springing up to his feet. "It's such a _pleasure_ to meet you! I'm Sion P. Sanada, and I assure you that I have _nothing_ to do with the current state of your daughter!"  
  
Hayate promptly grabbed Sion by his belt loops and yanked him back down to the floor again. Quick as a flash, Kasumi moved over to kneel beside him, keeping Sion on the floor.  
  
"Hi, Daddy!" Nabiki gave her father a nervous wave. "Hayate-kun and his friend here were just helping me home from work!" She poked her index fingers together. "See, I kind of maybe have run into a _little_ bit of trouble at work..."  
  
But Nabiki's words were quickly drowned out by an ominous rumble, as a mist of black chi seemed to seep out of Soun's body and fill up the room. Suddenly, Soun's head seemed to swell up like a balloon, and loom over the cowering group, his face twisted into a snarl of murderous rage.  
  
**_"WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! I'LL RIP HIM APART! I'LL BREAK HIM INTO LITTLE TINY PIECES AND SET THE PIECES ON FIRE!"_ ** **_  
_ **  
"Father!" Kasumi shouted, raising herself upwards as everyone else shrank back. "Calm down! Nabiki's not going to be helped by you acting up like this!"  
  
The gigantic head of Soun Tendou hung in the air for several minutes, before abruptly deflating back to normal once more. "Ah, I see. Forgive your father." He paused for a long moment. "Would you please excuse me?"  
  
And before anyone could answer him, Soun turned on his heel and disappeared.  
  
After a second, Ranma and Genma poked their heads around the doorway. "What was _that_ all about?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Oh nothing," Nabiki replied. "I got into a little scrape at work and now Daddy wants to lay waste to the entire block."  
  
Ranma looked Nabiki over, noticing the plasters and bandages, then quickly stepped inside. "Whatever happened to you doesn't look anything like it would be _'little_ .' Could you maybe explain to us?"  
  
"Well, I was just about to wait for you," Nabiki replied, settling herself back at the table. "I imagine you would want a piece of the action, and it would be stupid to not cut you in on it. See, I was at work, doing my usual thing..."  
  
"Yeah, I could imagine," Ranma muttered under his breath. Sion, being closest to him, snickered a little, which earned a glare from Hayate.  
  
Nabiki glared at Ranma before continuing. "This gang of punks just suddenly bursts in on our place. Total delinquents, not even wearing school uniforms, the kind that you probably would see loitering 'round the convenience stores late at night. Now usually, the bouncers would be able to turn them away, but these punks were carrying weapons. Bats, clubs, knives, stuff like that"  
  
Genma’s expression turned even more grave. “So your workplace got invaded by a gang of delinquents?”  
  
"Pretty much.” Nabiki sat back, trying to remember. “I had a good look at one of them, and he was shorter than even the girls. Bleached blond hair, all sticking up, like he was a Super Saiyan or something..."  
  
Hayate raised up his head. "Bleached blond spiky hair?"  
  
"Sounds like someone you know?" Nabiki asked. "Anyway, he's the one who did _this_ to me." She held out her bandaged hands. "Little bastard threw a whisky bottle at my face. I tried to block it, but it broke apart and cut me up pretty bad. Then he kicked me in the chest and sent me reeling over the bar, which he thought was pretty funny."  
  
Ranma winced at the mental image. Even through all of the torments that she had put him through, he never thought about hurting her. The idea of someone not only doing it without a second thought, but also laughing about it...  
  
"Man, you're lucky you managed to get out when you did," Ranma said. "Otherwise you might've ended up bleeding out like a stuck pig or something."  
  
Nabiki scowled at Ranma. "What, you think I spent nineteen years in this family without knowing how to defend myself just a little? Cut me some slack, would you? I even managed to get a couple of the girls out with me!"  
  
Ranma snorted, and looked over at Hayate. "You think it might be one of those guys the Karate Club hired to take us out, right?"  
  
"His story sure checks out," Hayate replied. "You're not thinking of going down there, are you?"  
  
Ranma just grinned. "Why not? Things have been gettin' pretty boring around here lately..."  
  
"Ah, such heroic spirit! Ranma-kun, Hayate-kun, we must go and make those charlatans pay for hurting my dear daughter!"  
  
Everyone turned to see Soun stride into the living room once more, now decked out in a full set of samurai armour, coloured a deep crimson. Just behind him stood Akane, a bamboo shinai clutched in her hands, and a look of complete mortification on her face.  
  
"Daddy," Nabiki said slowly, "I'm pretty sure that Ranma and Hayate can handle this by themselves..."  
  
"My darling daughter, your life was threatened this night!" Sound replied. "I cannot stand for something like that to happen, and I'd expect that everyone else wouldn't either! Isn't that right, Saotome?"  
  
Soun turned to where Genma was sitting a moment earlier... only to see a panda playing with a beach-ball out in the front yard. Beside the panda was a large wooden sign that read _JUST A NORMAL EVERYDAY PANDA._ _  
_  
Ranma just sighed. "Looks like it's just us then, guys..."

* * *

The sun had already sank past the horizon as Soun led his little group of five through the streets of Nerima, in search of the nightclub that Nabiki called her place of work. The streets were remarkably empty for the time of day, as if the people around them had gotten a feeling of what was about to go down and quickly went somewhere safe and out of the way.  
  
Soun marched down the street, a tall crimson banner with the kanji for "Tendou" strapped to his back, the flag fluttering in the wind. Behind him in two by two formation, walked Ranma and Akane, while Hayate and Sion brought up the rear.  
  
Akane gripped her shinai tighter as she walked beside Ranma. "I should've known that Nabiki would be working in a local hostess club..."  
  
"And I thought these places would've been safe enough for anybody," Ranma said idly. "So much for that idea. Maybe Nabiki brought some of the crazy in with her when she signed up."  
  
Akane made a face. "Please don't say my sister's name in the same breath as _'crazy'_ . I'm sure that she's nothing like you think..."  
  
Ranma turned to give Akane a look. "Have you seen what she's been selling offa me lately? If you did, you would really reconsider those words!" His teeth gritted as he looked away. "I swear, I should be getting a cut, with all the money she makes off me..."  
  
Sion blinked, then hopped closer to Ranma. "You mean you're selling merchandise, and not getting any royalties from it? How long has she been getting away with that?" His grin got even wider. "You know, I could negotiate a better deal for you, with a sufficient fee..."  
  
Ranma's face creased even further, and he quickened his pace.  
  
Akane looked behind, towards Hayate. "You know, you don't have to come along. You know that Ranma would want to do this sort of thing by himself, right? And I really don't want to see either of you getting hurt."  
  
Hayate shook his head. "I gotta represent the Tendou Dojo too. Besides, I gotta settle the score with that bleached little punk." He looked over at Sion. "You, on the other hand..."  
  
"Oh, I'm fully ready to give you guys my unequivocal support!" Sion answered. "It'll just be from somewhere towards the rear. And somewhat far away..."  
  
"Halt!" Soun suddenly barked, stopping dead. Unfortunately, Ranma was too busy trying to walk further ahead of Sion to notice, and ran smack into him, making him stumble forward a couple of steps.  
  
"Jeez!" Ranma rubbed his nose irritably. "Could you maybe warn us a little better?"  
  
Soun straightened himself out once more. "Never mind that boy! We've arrived!"  
  
As everyone looked at the building Soun stopped right in front of, they all quickly came to the conclusion that it was definitely the kind of place that Nabiki would work at. The building was painted white, tall and thin, like most of its kind in Japan. Beyond the entryway, there were steps leading up to a bog-standard elevator. And on the side was a column of signs, each for the business on their respective floor.  
  
It was easy to pick out the floor which had Pink Knockout, Nabiki's club, because of the large pink sign that had the name in katakana, along with a cartoon pink boxing glove. Not to mention the garish pink sign that was pasted over the floor itself, and the pink neon boxing gloves that shone from the otherwise blacked out windows.  
  
However, the three figures standing in front of the entrance didn't look like the kind of people that would usually frequent the club, if they went to clubs at all. For instance, it was very obvious that they were far too young to be allowed inside, all of them looking like they were in their mid-to-late teens. Not only that, but they all wore baggy black hoodies, cargo shorts, heavy boots and large facemasks. And to top it all off, they were each carrying baseball bats.  
  
"This is it, everyone!" Soun's eyes were lit with a fire that was rarely seen. "This is where we take our revenge on those who would hurt my darling Nabiki!" Before anyone could stop him, he stomped towards the three punks. "You there! You wastrels shall step aside, or you shall taste our just retribution!" He pointed at the three imperiously, for emphasis.  
  
The three punks stared at Soun in silence. Behind Soun, the other four stared back at them, half-bracing themselves for a fight.  
  
Then, after a long moment, the three punks fell over laughing.  
  
Soun stared wordlessly at the laughing punks, his pointer finger quickly going flaccid.  
  
Ranma glanced at the other three for a moment, then walked past Soun, patting his shoulder. "You can handle these guys, Uncle Tendou." Then he stepped past the still laughing goons, and made his way inside.  
  
After a moment, Akane and Hayate quickly dashed in after him.  
  
Sion looked between the goons, now rolling back and forth across the pavement, and Soun, still standing in silence, before turning around and walking over to the nearby vending machine for a drink.

It looked like it was going to be a long, _long_ night.

* * *

The elevator pinged as it reached the sixth floor, and the doors opened to let Ranma step out, with Akane and Hayate following close behind. His nose wrinkled as he saw the shattered remains of the doorway into the club, spread across the floor. Past the broken doorway, loud music rang out in the hallway; aggressive hip hop that didn't sound like anything that would set the mood in even the lowest scale hostess club.  
  
The three stepped through the doorway into the club proper, making sure to avoid the broken bits of door on the way. Just inside the front chamber was a wall pasted with pictures of the various girls on offer, all tasteful headshots with their name written in romaji. Nabiki's picture took pride of place in the center, with a large neon yellow star pasted on it with "No. 1" written on with pen.  
  
Further on, they could see the club itself, a soft-lit room with rose-pink wallpaper, black tiled floors, and couches of black leather arranged just so. It was easy to see the kind of place it would've been before the punks came in and made it their own.  
  
However, those punks made their mark: the pink walls were sprayed over with graffiti tags from UV-reactive orange and yellow spray paint, the kanji **天** ( _"ten"; heaven_ ) glowing in the light from blacklight lamps set on the floor. Some of the couches were broken and smashed, or had their upholstery slashed with blades. And around the floor was strewn broken glass, the remains of smashed bottles of alcohol undoubtedly stolen from the bar.  
  
One couch, smack dab in the centre of the room, was not only occupied, but practically surrounded, like some kind of improvised throne. Surrounding it, as if standing guard were a gang of punks like the ones down by the entrance, all wearing hoodies and masks. And sat on the centre was a young man that couldn't be anyone other than the leader of the pack: tall and slim, but well-built; dark shaggy hair that seemed to be more of a mop than anything else, framed around a hardened face; black leather jacket, and blue jeans with heavy boots.  
  
Off to the side crouched a young man that looked very familiar, especially to Hayate. As the three stepped into the room, he turned around to look at them, and his eyes practically bugged out. He turned back towards the man on the couch.  
  
"Boss, they're here! That's the guy I told you about! The kid from Furinkan High!"  
  
The shaggy haired boss looked up at Ranma for a long moment, before his face split into a grin. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the great Saotome Ranma. The kid who took down three of our most promising students by himself."  
  
Ranma blinked. "You know my name?"  
  
The man's grin got wider. "Word gets around, pal. I've been wanting to get a piece of you after I heard about what you did to the big boy and his buddies back then."  
  
Hayate stepped around Ranma, cracking his knuckles. "I'm not interested in your little pissing contest. We're here because of what you did to Nabiki-san."  
  
The grin faded slightly. "Nabiki?"  
  
Akane stepped forward, shinai held at the ready. "My older sister! The one whose face your friend tossed a _whiskey bottle_ at!"  
  
There was a moment of silence, before the guy burst out laughing. Behind him, his goons laughed along. The blond kid, however, wasn't laughing at all. In fact, his face twisted into a sneer, teeth gritted.  
  
"You gotta excuse Tsuraya-kun over here," the man said, motioning over to the blond. "His footwork is masterful, but his hands are anything but. Sometimes, when somebody gets a little antsy, he grabs whatever, takes a swing and it just _slips_ ..."  
  
Hayate's eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward, only for Ranma to grab him by the belt and yank him back. He turned to scowl at his master. "What the hell are you waiting for? Let's go and take him down!"  
  
Ranma smirked a little. "Hey, take it easy would you? Can't you appreciate a little appetiser before the main course?"  
  
"That's an interesting way of putting things," the man added. "Not to mention that you probably wouldn't want to rush into things. Not when we've got _hostages_ !"  
  
As if on cue, each of the punks fanned out from behind the couch. As they did so, they each yanked up someone from behind it: girls from the hostess club, that couldn't escape like Nabiki could.  
  
Ranma's eyes narrowed as the punks dragged out their struggling hostages. "Man, what a disappointment. When I came here, I thought I'd see some people worthy of a fight. But what do I get?" He folded his arms, his brow creasing. "A bunch of cowards hiding behind girls! What a bad joke!"  
  
Hyouga just smirked. “I guess you’re right about that.” He looked around, and made a cutting motion with his hand. The thugs let go of their hostages. As Hyouga pointed at the trio, they fanned out, bats and clubs raised.  
  
Hyouga grinned once more. "Why don't we see what you guys are made of, then?"  
  
The boss snapped his fingers. As one, the thugs charged across the room, weapons raised. Even through their masks, the eagerness to beat the three into a pulp was obvious.  
  
Ranma moved first, dashing to the side of the room. Three of the thugs broke off in pursuit, charging towards him as he kept running. Before they could realise it, Ranma had already leapt up to plant his foot against the wall. As they came closer, Ranma sprang off, sailing in an arc to land directly on the head of the middlemost thug.  
  
The thug stood in confusion as Ranma perched atop his head and shoulders before his feet kicked off and sent him to the floor. The thug next to him was quickly knocked to the ground after him, Ranma driving his heels into his face. The third thug, being of slightly quicker reaction, quickly charged Ranma once more as he descended, only for Ranma to leap off and deliver a spin kick to the chin hat whipped his whole body around, sending him pirouetting to the ground with his buddies.  
  
Akane sprinted forwards to meet the charge, her shinai cracking down down hard onto the head of one thug. As he stumbled back, Akane twisted into a horizontal swing, the tip of her shinai smacking into the jaw of the thug beside him, tearing his facemask off and sending it flying.  
  
The last two thugs surged towards Hayate, still standing still where Akane moved forward and Ranma to the side. But before they could even swing their bats, Hayate had jerked forward and delivered a vicious right hand straight into one thug's belly. The other thug stumbled forward, his bat passing harmlessly through the space where Hayate's head previously was. He turned around into a left hook that hit his face like a sledgehammer, and knocked him to the floor. The thug that was lurched over from the gut punch could hardly get his breath back before Hayate's foot crashed into the side of his face, and sent him down with the others.  
  
After that, there was silence. Ranma and Hayate quickly stepped over the unconscious bodies of the goons to flank Akane, now standing in front of the boss and his lieutenant. All three of them stared the two punks down, and Akane lifted the tip of her shinai to point directly at them.  
  
"This good enough for ya yet?" Ranma asked rhetorically.  
  
The remaining hostesses quickly dashed for the door, only pausing to give their thanks to the trio as they ran past.  
  
The shaggy haired youth looked at the trio for a moment. Then he glanced at his bleached blond cohort.  
  
"Well," he said, "where are my manners?" The young man rose to his feet, lifting up a long rod of black-lacquered wood. "My name is Takegami Hyouga. I am one of the rising stars at Tenmei Gakuen, and master of the Eight Diagram Pole."  
  
Ranma blinked. "Tenmei?" He looked at Akane. "You heard of that school?"  
  
Akane shook her head silently. Hayate just shrugged.  
  
"I wouldn't expect either of you to have heard of us," Hyouga replied. "We're a pretty exclusive institution." He twirled his black rod around his body in slow circles. "A high school that is dedicated to the study of martial arts, from all across the world. Not even the most powerful martial artists of the world know about us!"  
  
Ranma just gave Hyouga a half-lidded stare. "Is that supposed to intimidate us?"  
  
Hyouga just smirked. "Not really, man. But this might..."  
  
Suddenly, the black rod was twirling around Hyouga's body at incredible speed, as the youth spun and danced with it with the grace of a ballet dancer with his partner. With every movement of the long staff, a cold wind seem to blow throughout the club, rusting the pictures on the wall in the hallway and blowing back the hair on everyone around them.  
  
And then Hyouga slowed to a stop, the end of his rod pointed directly at Ranma's face.  
  
"Rest assured, you're going to know and fear the name of our school by the time the night is over." Hyouga's smile grew wider. "That is, though, if you manage to stay alive by then."  
  
Ranma just smirked and stepped forward, sinking into a ready stance. "That's what they all say, before I whip their butts..."  
  
Hyouga snorted. "You're pretty confident. But we'll see about that...!"  
  
As the words left his mouth, Hyouga suddenly dashed forward, raising his rod high. In one fluid motion, he swung it down as he moved forward, the black wood bending back as it dove down towards Ranma.  
  
Ranma stood still as Hyouga rushed towards him until, just before the rod hit him, he didn't. The black rod smashed into the the black tile with an earsplitting crack, the impact leaving cracks running through the ceramic. Ranma, however, was rising above and over Hyouga's head.  
  
What Ranma didn't notice, however, was Hyouga's eyes following him as he jumped. And what he also didn't notice was the black rod rising back upwards from the impact on the floor, just as fast as it went down. Hyouga smoothly twisted with the rod as it flew up, adjusting the grip so he could put more torque in as he drove the rod into Ranma's back.  
  
Rama choked as the wood slammed across his back at incredible speed, just below his shoulder blades. All of the air in his lungs was knocked out with the impact, and worse, he could feel the rod pushing him forwards and down; seconds later, he slammed into the bar with all of the force of Hyouga's rod behind him, face slamming into the bar top. The impact shook the bar, causing the bottles still standing on the shelves behind it to rattle and jump. Two unfortunate bottles toppled off, and smashed on the floor, their expensive contents spreading over the cold marble tile.  
  
Akane's eyes bugged out in horror. "Ranma!" She dashed forward towards the bar, only to stop dead to avoid the leaping kick from the blond kid, bending her body back as the sole of his foot came within inches of her face. She swayed quickly, letting the kid fly past and land behind her, and turned to face him.  
  
"Where do you think _you're_ going?" The blond kid grinned as he turned around to face Akane. "I'm not gonna let you step in and ruin my senpai's fun. That would just be rude..."  
  
Hyouga let out a barking laugh as the blond kid stepped up. "Nice catch there, kid. As expected of you." He twirled the rod up onto his shoulder. "Looks like our piggy's bark is worse than his bite."  
  
Hayate stepped up next to Akane, arms spread in an attempt to shield his sensei. "You better back off, runt. I'm not letting you hurt my sensei." He cracked his knuckles, stepping forward. "Not when I still have a score to settle."  
  
The blond kid just snickered. "You again? You know that you're not gonna have Saotome backing you up, right? Unless you expect some help from your _sensei_ ..." He spat out the word like it was a rotten bit of fruit.  
  
"Don't worry," Hayate replied, sinking into a ready stance. "Akane-sensei has taught me a hell of a lot since I last saw you. You're not going to find me so easy tonight."  
  
The blond kid's face twisted into a sneer. "You don't look like you're getting it at all..." He struck a pose that seemed to almost be a mockery of Hayate's stance. "I’m Tsuruya Jiro, master of Wild Crane Kung Fu. And I don’t play for fun.

Jiro stepped forward, eyes fixed on Hayate and Akane. “I'm one of the up and comers at Tenmei Academy, one with the potential to become Divine. I'm practically at the door of becoming one of the strongest men in the world!" He spread out his arms, and his eyes flashed dangerously. "Who are you to challenge me?"  
  
Hayate just smiled back at Jiro, like how a shark that smelt blood in the water would smile. "I'm Ichimonji Hayate. Student of Furinkan High, Class 1-C. And disciple of the Tendou School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

Ranma blinked and looked over at Akane. “ _Tendou School?_ ”

Akane kept her eyes on Jiro. “Not my idea.”  
  
"Nice introduction," Jiro said. "Doesn't erase the fact that I'm still gonna beat your ass like a bad monkey."  
  
Hayate's smile widened. "You're sure welcome to try."  
  
Akane looked between Hayate and Jiro for a moment, before she burst into a run towards Ranma's prone body. Jiro burst into a run after her, but only managed a couple of steps before Hayate slammed into his gut shoulder first, sending him into the bar.  
  
Hyouga stepped forward, gripping his pole tightly, as Akane leant over Ranma's barely conscious body. "You sure got guts, girl. I'll give you that." He dashed towards the bar, swinging his rod into another downward arc.  
  
But Akane turned and slammed her shinai against the wood, sending it bouncing upwards once again. She grit her teeth as Hyouga tightened his grip and let the staff flex back to crack against the bamboo once again, and again, and again.  
  
"More gutsier than I thought," Hyouga said, as Akane kept parrying away the relentless assault from his staff. "I'm starting to like you!"  
  
"Then maybe you'll like this!" Akane smacked Hyouga's staff back and stepped to the side and forwards, stabbing her shinai forwards and catching him on the shoulder. He staggered back, his rod still whipping up and down as he stumbled from the blow.  
  
Akane paused as she heard Ranma groan, and quickly returned to his side. "Ranma! Are you alright?!"  
  
Ranma groaned again as he pushed himself off the bar and back onto his feet. "Yeah, I think. Got nothin' broken but my pride." He looked at Akane. "You better step back, Akane. I gotta take care of him myself."  
  
Akane's face creased up. "But he just knocked you out!"  
  
Ranma just sighed. "Believe me, he won't be doing that again."  
  
Hayate watched Ranma and Hyouga with silent concern, worried about what was going to happen. In fact, he was so preoccupied that he didn't notice Jiro wriggling out of his grip until his knee suddenly smacked into his side, knocking the wind from his lungs. Then Jiro braced his feet against Hayate's chest, and pushed hard.  
  
Hayate stumbled back, losing his grip on Jiro. As he struggled to right himself once more, Jiro was already over the bar, grabbing some of the bottles of alcohol that were still standing. By the time that he managed to recover again, Jiro flung one at the bottles directly at his head. He barely managed to duck the bottle in time, and then dashed forward to avoid getting clipped by a second.  
  
Jiro kept flinging bottles, smashing them along the bar, before he turned on his heel and dashed for the back door. Hayate quickly leapt over the bar top and followed, banging through the door seconds after Jiro, and disappearing up the stairs beyond.  
  
Ranma watched Hayate disappear up the stairs, then turned to Hyouga. "Looks like it's just the three of us, then."  
  
Hyouga just nodded. "I'm sure my boy will take care of him. Now..." He levelled his staff at Ranma. "If you don't want your girlfriend to get hurt, I suggest that we take this man to man."  
  
Ranma snorted, but took a ready stance. "Alright then. But I gotta tell ya, that's not gonna help your chances any..." He looked over at Akane who, with a pinched expression on her face, quickly stepped back to the bar, lowering her shinai. "Don't worry about me, Akane. This is my kinda fight, after all."  
  
Hyouga just grinned, and spun the staff over his head. "Then I'm gonna make sure that it's nice and short! Just like your _life_ !" He hollered as he dashed forward, swinging his staff forward in a great horizontal swipe. But Ranma ducked, and the black lacquered wood just passed through empty air.  
  
Hyouga turned with the staff, shifting his grip enough to go for a lower swipe at Ranma's feet. As he turned, it seemed like a great wind was blowing in the wake of the staff, blowing past everything, knocking over glasses and bottles, rustling the torn edges of ripped photographs and torn paper.  
  
Ranma was ready, however. As the staff came around again, he leapt into the air, raising his legs up into a split. But Hyouga spun with the staff once more, and Ranma found himself twisting in the air to avoid another swipe of the staff. And then came another swipe he barely dodged, and then another.  
  
Ranma dove forward, rolling across the floor, away from Hyouga and his rod. But as he did so, he felt a jarring nerve, and quickly unfolded to leap forwards out of his roll. The loud crack of Hyouga's staff slamming into the floor behind him, missing by inches from what he could tell, told him that his senses was right.  
  
"Nice dodging you got there, Saotome." Hyouga was still grinning. "But it's not gonna work on me." He straightened up again, raising his staff high. "I am the master of the Shaolin Eight Diagram Pole technique, to the point where my offense and defense are practically one." He spun his staff around his body once more, whirling it around his waist. "Impenetrable! Unbeatable!" For good measure, he then raised his leg, and used it as a fulcrum for the staff to spin around, before catching it once more. "Invincible!"  
  
Ranma turned to glare at Hyouga. "Are you people from Tenmei always this full of hot air, or is this just a general thing with you?"  
  
"You can laugh all you like," Hyouga replied, "but you still haven't laid a finger on me! And let me tell you something, nobody I’ve ever fought has!" And with that, he leapt into the air, twisting with his staff into a whirling blade of destruction. Ranma quickly scrabbled away before the staff slammed into the bar... or rather smashed through the bar, sending splinters of wood and shards of glass everywhere.  
  
Ranma didn't want to admit it, but he knew that Hyouga was right. He could tell that the guy could wield his staff like an extension of his own body. And that staff was as strong and as flexible as he needed to keep attacking and defending and not slow down. He needed to figure out how to get that stick off him and fast.  
  
Then Ranma noticed the bottles of alcohol behind the bar, and a desperate plan quickly formed in his mind. Quick as a fox, he leapt over the bar, narrowly avoiding another swipe from Hyouga's staff, and grabbed a bottle of whisky. He spun around into a pirouette, just like Hyouga did, and tossed the bottle straight at his face.  
  
The whisky bottle rocketed out in a perfect spiral, but was quickly shattered from a single swing of his staff. The whisky burst out like mist, enveloping Hyouga and covering his face. Hyouga winced, choking at the mist of strong alcohol seeping into his lungs, and forming over his eyes.  
  
That was all that Ranma needed. He leapt forward, and smashed Hyouga back with a right hook to the face. He landed like a cat before Hyouga, as he staggered back, a large red welt forming on his face.  
  
"That makes five fingers on you," Ranma said. "And that makes me the first!"  
  
Hyouga steadied himself again, and touched the red welt on his cheek. Slowly, a smile formed on his face. Less of an easy going smile, but more like the kind of smile that reminded Ranma of Munekata and his friends at the Karate Club.  
  
"I'm _really_ gonna enjoy this."

* * *

 

Hayate stepped through the open door, onto the roof of the building. He winced slightly at the cold night wind blowing across the rooftop, pulling his jacket closer. Around him, he could see the glow of a thousand streetlights, lamps and lighted signs, coming from all around him, lighting the rooftop with an eerie glow of many different colours.  
  
"About time you got up here!"  
  
Hayate's head snapped up to see someone standing on the doorway above him, hidden in darkness. As the shadow suddenly leapt upwards, Hayate dashed away from the doorway, raising his arms up, preparing for the worst.  
  
The shadow somersaulted in the air a couple of times, before landing on the ground with barely a shake. The figure rose to his feet, and opened his eyes.  
  
"Well, look at you: Mister Badass Hero, here to take me on." Jiro took a couple of steps forward. "I guessed that you would wanna settle the score with me."  
  
Hayate rolled his shoulders back. "You're right about that one. And Ranma-senpai's handling your big bro, anyway. He wouldn't want me horning in on his man to man fight." He cracked his knuckles. "And let me tell you, I'm not the same person you fought back then. You're gonna find me a lot harder to put away now."  
  
Jiro just grinned, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "Then I'm just gonna break you all the harder, and for good this time." He raised his leg up, crossing it over his other. "I'm going to show you what _real_ martial arts is all about!"  
  
Hayate's eyes widened as Jiro's body seemed to glow a sickly green, the light rising off his body like droplets of water.

* * *

 

Ranma ducked and weaved around the whirling black rod, moving back and forth around Hyouga in a desperate dance. All he needed was another opening. Just one more he could score a hit on! But every time Ranma tried to close the distance, he would turn and that black rod would nearly take off his head. He could feel the wind that seemed to blow in the wake of Hyouga's staff lashing against his body with every near miss.  
  
Ranma hopped back at Hyouga surged forward, but his foot landed on a piece of unbroken bottle. The crack of the glass under his foot broke through his thoughts, and left him off balance. Off balance long enough for Hyouga's staff to smash into his mid-section and send him reeling into a couch, knocking it, and him, backwards to the floor.  
  
Ranma laid there, gasping for breath, trying to ignore the pain in his body. The impact was hard, but he mostly managed to roll with it enough that he got away with being winded and the potential for a big bruise. But he could hear Hyouga come closer.  
  
Quickly, another idea formed in the back of Ranma's mind.  
  
He heard the footsteps quicken, and quickly rolled back. A second later, he heard the loud smack of Hyouga's staff hitting the couch, and launched himself off his arms, lashing out with both feet in front of him.  
  
A loud cry and the feeling of his feet hitting flesh were his reward. Managing to knock the couch right-side up again with his momentum so he could land inside was just the icing on the cake.  
  
Hyouga landed on his ass with a thump and a grunt, sprawled out in front of Ranma against the bar. He grunted as he planted the end of his staff on the ground, and rose to his feet once more. "Good hit..."  
  
"Two for two," Ranma replied, crossing his legs. "Wanna try and go for three?"  
  
Hyouga looked behind him briefly, at the bar. Then a smile spread over his face. "Oh, you know it..." He reached behind him, and grabbed a bottle of vodka from the bar. Popping the top, he poured the strong-smelling liquid over his staff.  
  
"Looks like you've earned a little something extra..."  
  
Hyouga brought the bottle to his lips, and swigged the last of the vodka, before spitting it all over the rod.  
  
Ranma blinked at Hyouga, confused. "Okay, so now you're buzzed? What's this gonna prove?"  
  
Hyouga just grinned. "Just watch." Then he started twirling the staff around his body once again. But this time, he didn't stop to attack. Instead, he was getting faster, and faster.  
  
Ranma's eyes widened as Hyouga's staff turned into a black blur, before suddenly bursting into flame. The ends of the staff whirled around, leaving red sparks of flame its wake, a literal wheel of flame that orbited around and above Hyouga's body.  
  
"This is my ultimate technique, baby! Say hello to the **_Tobihi Kuro Senpuu!_ ** "

* * *

Jiro leapt into the air, the glow of his battle aura bathing the roof in a sickly green light. Hayate braced himself for the worst; the moment seemed to drag out as Jiro hung in the air above him, as if he was defying gravity itself.  
  
And then Jiro twisted through the air, his leg lashing out. Hayate's eyes widened as a pair of glowing green lines of chi seemed to tear themselves out of the air, and swoop down towards him like giant birds of prey. He ducked low, leaping forwards as the chi sliced into the concrete floor behind him, tearing through and scattering shards everywhere.  
  
Hayate turned and looked down at the massive gouges torn out of the roof. "Holy shit!" Then he looked up at Jiro, who was now perched upon an air conditioner fan. "What the hell was that?!"  
  
Jiro grinned as he turned to face Hayate, like a jagged tear in the side of a car door. "That is true martial arts, geek stench. This ain't the kiddy games you learned at the Karate Club at school. This is the real art of killing!" He crouched low on his heels, craning over the aircon unit to glare at Hayate. "You think you're so cool because you learned off those meatheads, or that loser Saotome. But you're just a ant compared to the gaze of the Heavenly Kings of Tenmei Academy!"

Jiro’s grin seemed to grow even wider. "They noticed me! They took me in, and cultivated my talents! One day I'll be walking alongside them, while you'll still be down there in the dirt, trying not to get stepped on!"  
  
Hayate staggered to his feet, his eyes fixed on Jiro. "I think you talk too much." He raised up his fists, ready to fight. "If you're as good as you keep saying you are, you should've landed a hit on me by now."  
  
The grin melted off of Jiro's face. "Landed a hit... I'll do more than that!" He bounded off the air-con unit, rising up into the air. "I'll slice you into ribbons!" Once again, he spun through the air, launching two more blades of chi at Hayate.  
  
**_"Gekkou Hahen Zetsudan!"_ **  
  
It was like time slowed down, and Hayate could see everything. Where before Jiro moved so quickly that Hayate didn't realise he was hit until he felt the foot in his chest, now he could see Jiro fly through the air and launch his attacks.  
  
In his mind's eye, he could see Ranma leaping through the gap between the blades of chi like a fox, and landing a flying kick right in Jirou's face. That's probably what he would do.  
  
Or maybe Akane, who would roll out of the way, or duck, then charge forward as he landed to deliver a kick of her own, or sweep his legs out from under him.  
  
It was like all of the time he spent sparring with Ranma and Akane, all of the words of advice that they gave him, was coming back to him in a rush. And now he saw all of those hours of sparring, with a pair of fighters with years of training between them, and realised that it was the foundations for him to build himself on.  
  
Hayate sprinted forward, managing to slide between the blades of chi with barely a nick. He sprinted forwards, towards the spot where Jiro was landing. And he saw the look of shock on Jiro's face as he leapt up and delivered a heavy haymaker to the face.  
  
That look seared itself in Hayate's brain, as something to treasure forever. Or at least as long as he can keep himself alive once Jiro recovered.  
  
Jiro landed in a heap on the concrete, legs splayed out, his face a mixture of shock and indignation. There were certainly inklings of rage forming as his eyes fought through the haze from the impact of Hayate's fist in his face.  
  
Hayate just stood over Jiro, raising a single fist. "If you're the best that Tenmei Academy has to offer me, I guess I got nothing to worry about. Maybe you should take your talents to the circus or something, 'cause you're getting shortchanged."  
  
Jiro's body seemed to shake as he stared up at Hayate. "You hit me... You..." The words seemed to die in his throat, replaced with a strangled screech.  
  
"Yeah," Hayate said, his eyes fixed on Jiro. "I hit you. Now get out of my face, before I hit you again!"  
  
But Jiro launched himself up to his feet once more. "Shut up! I'll kill you!" And suddenly he was in Hayate's face, delivering a blistering array of kicks. Just like back at the playing fields of Furinkan High, he was moving so fast that he was hard to track.  
  
Hayate raised his guard, and started weaving his body through Jiro's blows. And it was like night and day; Jiro's feet would slam against his arms, but they would barely even hurt, and that's if they hit at all. It was as if Jiro had slowed down in the weeks after that fateful first fight.  
  
Or maybe, Hayate just sped himself up.  
  
Hayate lashed out between Jiro's many legs, aiming for his face. For a fraction of a second, he could see the look of pure shock on his face before it disappeared, and his fist sailed through the empty space where it once was. But Hayate was undeterred, and started punching more.  
  
It was like he was back at the sand wok again, trying to pluck out the nails before he got burned. Everything seemed to go weird, half-slowed down, half sped up. It was like he could see every punch he was making, and every kick that Jiro sent out, like hails of arrows crossing through the air.  
  
Hayate strained his body, weaving through all the blows that he could dodge, and blocking with his arms those that he can't. It was almost like he was sparring with Ranma again, trying to hit him, only this time Ranma was trying to hit back.  
  
But Hayate could tell that Jiro wasn't anywhere close to Ranma, even before a fist made contact with his face.  
  
Jiro stumbled back as one blow after another slammed into his face, the skin around his jaw rippling with the impacts. Many fists seemed to pummel him at once, slamming into his face and chest, pushing him further and further back, closer to the edge of the rooftop.  
  
Hayate reared back as Jiro fell out of his reach, and suddenly everything seemed to snap back into normal speed. He found himself gasping for breath, his chest tight and burning with a fire that he barely even noticed.  
  
Jirou swayed in front of him, almost punch-drunk. His head hung low, creeping towards the ground. Hayate hoped desperately that he would topple over and bury his face in the concrete.  
  
But then Jiro's body straightened, as a blaze of green burst out from within. "I'm not down yet, Ichimonji!" He shrieked, his eyes wild. "I'll be dead before I let the likes of you defeat me!"  
  
Jiro leapt high over Hayate's head, twisting through the air once more. And suddenly, several blades of chi launched themselves straight at Hayate, wide and tall and razor sharp.  
  
But once again, in his mind's eye, Hayate could see Ranma diving through all the gaps to launch his counter-attack.  
  
Hayate dashed towards the glowing blades, the blood roaring in his eyes. He knew that if he screwed this up, his sensei and senpai were probably going to find him in quite a bit more than one piece. But all he needed was that Ranma in his mind's eye; if he could match him, then the real one would be pretty impressed...  
  
Hayate leapt forward, and dove through the gap in the blades, hearing the shriek of the blades cutting through the air. He could feel the blades pass on either side of him as he flew through the air; his hair rustled, and he was sure that a chunk had been taken out of it.  
  
But the blades passed, and his eyes snapped open, and he rolled forwards to land on his right foot on front of Jiro, who was still sailing through the air. He felt the shock of his foot slamming into the concrete with a force that he didn't even know he had, before he shifted his weight forward, and pushed off that foot.  
  
And once again, time slowed down around the two fighters.  
  
Jiro could only watch as Hayate suddenly burst upwards towards him, as if he was shot out from a cannon, before his left knee rocketed towards his face. And after that was nothing but pain clanging around his head.  
  
Hayate felt a blossom of satisfaction inside of him as his knee smashed into Jiro's face, sending him flying backwards. But that blossom quickly died away as he saw the roof slowly drop away behind Jiro, revealing the ten-story drop to the streets blow.  
  
Hayate lurched forward, every muscle in his chest and arms desperately straining to fight gravity and momentum, to reach out for Jiro's outstretched hand. He could feel them stretch to the breaking point, just as his fingers closed around the other boy's wrist.  
  
And then everything sped up again, and Hayate fell to the ground like a sack of wet mice, his chest slamming into the low wall around the rooftop. Jiro fell past, over the wall, nearly yanking Hayate forwards with him to the street below, only to stop short. He dangled in Hayate's grip, head swaying in the wind. Out cold.  
  
Slowly, Hayate pulled himself back up, pulling Jiro with him. It was a hard task; Jiro wasn't heavy, but was heavier than most things Hayate picked up in his regular life. Hayate barely managed to pull him back onto the roof with him before the two landed on their backs on the rooftop.  
  
Hayate lay on the room, staring up at the dark night sky. His breath came in short gasps, his chest heaving and his heart hammering in his chest.  
  
He had won.  
  
After a long moment, a weak voice came from beside Hayate.  
  
"Why did you save me? You should've just let me fall."  
  
Hayate struggled to control his breathing for a moment, before he searched his adrenaline addled mind for an answer.  
  
Eventually he said, "I wouldn't wanna do that to you. I'm a martial artist, not a killer."  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"You’re a complete asshole," came the voice from beside him.  
  
Hayate just sighed deeply, and lay there on the roof. "You know it."

* * *

Down below, back in the club, Ranma was having a little bit of trouble.  
  
Waves of heat and sparks of flame seemed to flare out from Hyouga as he spun his wheel of flame above his head. Around him, the sparks landed, touching off blazes of their own, thanks in part to all the alcohol that was soaked into the walls and floor around them. The flames spewed forth acrid smoke that seemed to swirl around Hyouga's body, wreathing around him and making him harder to see.  
  
In a matter of seconds, the whole room seemed to be ablaze. Ranma could hardly breath as the flames licked up the walls and floor, creeping closer to him and Akane. Along with the heat and the smoke, it was going to make the fight considerably harder.  
  
He looked towards Akane, who was desperately looking around for a fire extinguisher. "Akane! Get outta here! Call for help!"  
  
"But what about you?!" Akane yelled back, in between choking coughs. "You can't seriously want to fight him here!"  
  
"Don't worry about me!" Ranma shot back. "I can handle this!"  
  
Akane's face creased, as if she wanted to argue the point. But instead she turned and dashed out of the club and into the stairwell. Leaving Ranma to turn around and face his opponent.  
  
And even though he was surrounded by a swirl of heat and flames, and wreathed in choking black smoke, Hyouga was still smiling at him. He was enjoying the chaos, the teetering on the edge of life and death. He didn't just not care that he could die, he was enjoying it.  
  
Hyouga launched himself forward, his rod of flames whirling around to slam into Ranma. But it only found air, as Ranma leapt deftly over him, the flames licking at his heels. But Hyouga kept moving, fire dancing around his body.  
  
Ranma squelched down the rising panic inside of him, letting his mind go still. The Soul of Ice might not be that useful, considering the Hiryu Shouten Ha would rip the building apart; a bad choice, since Hayate was still on the roof with Hyouga's buddy, and he didn't know if there was anyone else on the other floors. That meant that he needed an alternative.  
  
And it wasn't long before one popped into Ranma's mind. As he ducked and swerved around Hyouga's flaming staff of death, he remembered when he fought Herb on Mt. Hourai. As the waves of hot and cold clashed with each other, the beginnings of the spiral formed around them.  
  
Cold chi rises up around hot chi, or any kind of heat. Heat rises up with the cold chi as well, pushing the cold up with it. And if Ranma stayed cold, he could let himself rise up with the heat...  
  
At the center of the spiral, Hyouga raised up his staff. "Your little dance can't save you, Saotome! This is the end!" And then he let it slam down, end first into the spiral, exploding into a gout of flame.  
  
Ranma pulled the cold and the heat within himself, and let it course through his body, before he launched himself upwards into the air. He felt his body twist around with the chi inside of him as he hung in the air, before he dove down towards Hyouga.  
  
"You're damn right it is! It’s over for you!"  
  
And as he fell, Ranma let the cold chi flow through his body and down into his fist, before he lashed out at Hyouga.  
  
**"** ** _HIRYUU KOURIN DAN!_** **"** **  
**  
Hyouga's eyes bugged out as a large globe of blue chi burst out from Ranma's fist, filling his vision completely in blinding bright blue light. And then he felt the light slam into his body, smashing him down into the floor, before the floor broke under him, and smashed him down into the floor below.  
  
And then the floor below broke apart, and he slammed into the floor below that.  
  
And the floor below _that_.  
  
Ranma landed hard on his hands and knees. The nightclub was no longer burning. The explosion of cold chi and the rush of the wind seemed to blow out all of the flames around him, and the way the blast drilled through the floor took all of the air out long enough to help put out the flames. Now there was nothing but burnt out walls and furniture, and clouds of black smoke.  
  
In front of him, he could see a massive hole in the floor where Takegami Hyouga once stood. And beyond that, he could see the hole punched in the floor below, too. Somewhere a couple of floors below that, he could just make out the prone body of Takegami Hyouga.  
  
Ranma leaned back on his feet, and took a deep cleansing breath.  
  
Or at least he tried to, but he ended up choking on smoke.  
  
A minute later, Hayate opened the door into the club once again. He stopped as soon as he caught sight of the massive hole in the middle of the room. Then he looked up at Ranma, who was still choking on smoke.  
  
"You got him?" Hayate asked.  
  
Ranma coughed a couple of times, paused to get his breath back, then looked up at Hayate. "Yeah. You got him up there?"  
  
Hayate just nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Cool," Ranma replied, still coughing. "Let's get outta here before we choke on all this smoke."

* * *

As the two boys stepped outside, Akane turned from her father-- who was still standing in the street in front of the entryway, like some strange statue-- to run up to Ranma and Hayate.  
  
"Thank goodness you two are okay! I think those punks might've bailed when they heard those explosions." Akane looked at her father briefly. "But I don't think Dad's recovered from the ridicule yet."  
  
"Think he can snap out of it before the cops get here?" Hayate asked, just as the sound of sirens drifted in from the distance. "I don't want to explain things to the police..." He trailed off suddenly.  
  
Ranma blinked, and followed Hayate's gaze. A small figure was crouched over the edge of one of the nearby buildings, seemingly staring down at them. The figure wasn't hard to spot; the lights of the building signs seemed to catch the bleached blond hair.  
  
After a moment, the figure disappeared from view.  
  
Ranma looked at Hayate once more. "Think he might be back?"  
  
Hayate just shrugged. "I sure hope not. I wouldn't want to have to deal with him on a regular basis." He turned and trudged off, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.  
  
Ranma quickly walked up beside Hayate. "Hey, how do you think I feel?" He skipped forward, gazing up at his erstwhile student's face. "I spent the last coupla years having to deal with crap like that, almost every single day. You ask Akane too, she'd been going through the same thing. I bet she'd love to have a boring old normal life."  
  
Hayate turned to scowl at Ranma. "And you? Somehow I don't see you wanting to have a boring life. You'd probably whine about how bored you are."  
  
Ranma scowled back. "Hey! You talk to all your teachers that way? I ain't no whiner!"  
  
"You can't even sit still for five minutes," Akane said as she brought up the rear. "I don't expect you to even last a week without martial arts."  
  
"Sure I could!"  
  
Hayate just sighed and rolled his eyes, and kept walking.  
  
Far behind the three of them shuffled Soun, his banner still fluttering tall behind him, but his posture slumped in defeat.  
  
Suddenly, Sion P. Sanada popped out from a side street, and walked up to Soun's side.  
  
"So our little expedition went well, I suppose?"  
  
Soun just made a small sound of agreement, and kept on walking home.

* * *

The next morning, Ranma and Hayate were surprised to see a gaunt older man and a slightly younger woman sitting in the Tendous' living room. They were even more surprised when Kasumi introduced them as the managers to the Pink Knockout hostess club.  
  
"We wanted to thank you for saving our club," the man said, as he placed a sheaf of envelopes on the dining table. "If it weren't for you people, then we could've gone under for good!"  
  
"Yeah, sure..." Ranma said. "But we did kind of wreck your club..."  
  
"And the building it was in," Hayate added. "Don't forget that."  
  
"Yeah, well..." The man just smiled. "We were always thinking of moving locations. That building hasn't been good for business for quite a while. Thankfully, the insurance payout should be enough to cover a move to someplace more profitable, and we have you to thank."  
  
With that, he pushed the envelopes forward, made his excuses and left the house. Ranma, Akane and Hayate were left to look down at the gift that he left behind as thanks.  
  
Carefully, Hayate picked up one envelope and tore it open, pulling out what's inside.  
  
"A coupon book?" Hayate asked, turning the small pink pamphlet around. "One hour with the girl of your choice?" His eyebrows lifted. "Free drinks? Any girl you want?"  
  
Ranma dropped the envelopes like they were made of fire. Akane's eyes bugged out, and her cheeks turned deep red.  
  
"You mean all the thanks he could give us," Ranma asked in a strangled voice, "is just time at his stupid club? What kind of thanks is that?!"  
  
"At least the coupons aren't valid until you turn twenty," Hayate said. "Dunno if that'll make you feel better though.  
  
Akane grabbed the coupon book from Hayate's hand, her face aflame. "Don't even think about it, Hayate-kun! I forbid you from going there! That's an order from your sensei!"  
  
"What're you talking about?!" Hayate asked. "I wasn't even thinking about doing that!"  
  
Ranma turned to look at Akane. "Why not? At least he doesn't have a fiancée to worry about! He could actually make some use out of it!"  
  
Akane stared at Ranma for a long moment, wide-eyed. Then she flung the coupon book at his face, before getting to her feet and stalking out of the living room, stomping up the stairs.

Ranma blinked, and turned to Hayate. The coupon book was still stuck to his forehead. “What’s up with her?”

Hayate just sighed, and looked away. “Dunno. Maybe it was something you said?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess this took a while, didn’t it?
> 
> Sometimes I write something and I get so dissatisfied with it, so I end up leaving it on the shelf for ages. And then when I look at it again, I want to rewrite it, either because it doesn’t match with what I’ve already written, or how I want the story to go.
> 
> So this is the next chapter of The Disciple, and it’s got a good identifier of how I want the series to go. Tenmei Academy’s always there, in the background, and this isn’t going to be the last time you’ll see its students make an appearance.
> 
> Not in the next chapters, though. I’ve got other things planned...


End file.
